biography

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 led her to USC film school where she discovered the magic of editing and developed skills that would lead 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 have given way to her inevitable true calling: directing.

Charissa’s first steps into directing began with shadowing working episodic directors to enrich her production knowledge of the TV landscape 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.  Her short films rendered her a finalist in the 2018-2020 Disney ABC Directing Program and a participant in the 2018 Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program & 2019 Warner Bros Television Directors' Workshop.  Charissa's episodic directorial debut was the Season 2 Midseason Finale of God Friended Me (CBS).  Other series she’s directed include The Rookie (ABC), Good Trouble & The Watchful Eye (Freeform), All American (CW) and Found (NBC).  She is repped by Circle Management & Production.