bio

A native Angeleno, Charissa Sanjarernsuithikul is a director whose roots in Hollywood began with her first job as a film projectionist.  Her love of cinematic storytelling landed her at USC film school where she discovered the magic of editing and developed skills that led to an 18 year career in TV post production.  Working alongside powerhouse Showrunners such as Greg Berlanti, Kevin Williamson, Shonda Rhimes and Aaron Sorkin, Charissa's editing credits include The Following, The Newsroom and Doom Patrol.  Her love of photography (the ability to visually tell a story in a single frame) combined with her fluency of filmic language and craft of performance gave way to her true calling: directing.

Enriching her production knowledge of the TV landscape, Charissa shadowed episodic directors while learning the craft firsthand. This led to her directing a string of short films with her latest, Post Sentence, winning the Best Women's Short Award at the 2021 Cleveland International Film Festival.  A finalist in 4 Studio Directing Programs (Sony, Disney | ABC, WB and NBC), Charissa’s debut episode came through the 2019 Warner Bros Television Directors' Workshop, which launched her episodic television directing career.  Since then, she’s directed broadcast and cable series including God Friended Me (CBS), All American (CW), The Rookie (ABC), Found (NBC) and Good Trouble (Freeform).  She is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment.

As a director, Charissa brings her editing skills and distinct point of view with her on set where she collaborates with artists to tell stories that resonate.  Her sharp instincts and intuition for what drive human behavior brings an honesty and alchemy to the work, giving it a life and soul of its own. For Charissa, directing is her craft, telling stories is her passion and connecting humanity through the power of cinema is her quest!