Stories that hit hard, land soft, and stay with you.​

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Lanre Olabisi is an award-winning writer-director known for emotionally charged, character-driven stories that fuse drama, humor, and soul. His work often explores identity, moral complexity, and legacy—recurring themes across both his television credits and his independent films.

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He has directed multiple episodes of ABC’s The Rookie and its spinoff The Rookie: Feds, bringing a distinctive blend of tension and levity to one of television’s most dynamic franchises.

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Lanre first gained critical acclaim with his debut feature, August the First, when IndieWire proclaimed that “Olabisi is most definitely a talent to watch.” The film premiered at SXSW, was nominated for an IFP Gotham Award, won the top prize at seven international festivals, and aired on Showtime, Netflix, Hulu, and PBS. It is currently streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime.

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His follow-up feature, Somewhere in the Middle, developed through a year-long improvisation process, was nominated for Outstanding Independent Feature at the Black Reel Awards and praised by Cinemacy as “an electrifying journey of love, deceit, and evocative sexual tension.” It is now available on PlutoTV and Tubi.

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Lanre’s short film A Storybook Ending, a neo-noir crime comedy, was hailed as “wildly entertaining” by UK Film Review. It streamed on HBO for three years and earned him a spot in the HBOAccess Directing Program. There, he shadowed on HBO’s Succession and Max’s Love Life, before becoming a fellow in the Disney/ABC Directing Program.

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A former collegiate wrestler at the University of Michigan and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Lanre brings physical authenticity to all of his action and combat sequences. His long-standing Vipassana meditation practice fuels a calm, focused approach to working with actors and navigating high-pressure production environments.

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Before directing television, Lanre spent 14 years teaching Screenwriting, Directing, and Acting for Film at the New York Film Academy. He holds an MFA in Film Production from The City College of New York and a BA in English Literature from the University of Michigan. Fluent in Spanish after living in Madrid for four years, he continues to craft stories that live in the body, move through emotion, and land with meaning.