Charise M. Studesville

 Writer / Director / Filmmaker

 Founder of Hollywood Chick Mafia

Charise Studesville was nine-years-old when she got her first job as a      professional dancer as the only child in an adult dance corps. That same industriousness has driven her professional life since then. In 2007, Charise jumped into the production side of the film business with Martin Chase Productions, headed up by Debra Martin Chase. This included a weekly commute between Chicago and Los Angeles, working at Martin Chase during production of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and The Cheetah Girls: One World.

In 2008, Charise attended the USC/Warner Brothers Directing & Producing Summer Program at the University of Southern California, and finished up the summer by directing her first independent and award-winning film, The Hands. In 2010, Charise directed and produced a feature documentary on the organization Common Threads, and the impact of “food deserts” on the health and welfare of inner-city children in American cities.

She founded Hollywood Chick Mafia, "a community of creative rebel chicks in Hollywood, supporting each others' badassery," and hosts rooms on Clubhouse and local events in support of women in the industry. Currently, she has several projects in film, television, and publishing, in development, as well as a women-driven creative venture with business partner, Ananda Lewis.

Charise was chosen as a 2022 WIF Multi-Hyphenate Mentee, under mentors Marta Cunningham and Alissa Bachner. In 2023, she was honored as a featured artist in Kente Royal Gallery’s Black History Month art show in Harlem, released two new books, and co-founded theBUBBLY.Life, a lifestyle brand for women over 40 that. In 2024, Charise was chosen as a fellow in the Stowe Narrative Lab with her feature screenplay, THE WAVES. And in 2025, she was chosen as an esteemed fellow in the HerArts Film Lab in Paestum, Italy, a program focused on "empowering women's voices in cinema" in the international marketplace.

In all of her creative work, Charise uses truth to illuminate darkness within the human experience, and loves stories and characters that speak to the human capacity to rise above the murkiest of waters in life without losing sight of the beauty that can bloom—like her lotus flower logo of Lotus Girl Films.
As a fierce advocate for women, Charise is a proud member of WIF, Film Fatales, Women In Media, and Alliance of Women Directors, and is the founder of Hollywood Chick Mafia, "a community of creative rebel chicks in Hollywood, supporting each others' badassery."