Lisa Kannakko is a Toronto-based producer, director, and photographer. While playing in an art-rock performance band during university, she decided to throw down the mic and pick up her camera to shoot the downtown music scene in the late 1990s—leading to tours with artists including Peaches, Chilly Gonzales, and Feist. Since then, she has pursued an entrepreneurial path—running a café, raising her daughter, and building a thriving career as a freelance and fashion photographer, shooting touring bands, editorial features, advertising campaigns, and live performances for CBC Music Canada. Her photography has appeared in Rolling Stone, Toronto Life, Time, The Walrus, and Maclean’s.
In 2017, Lisa returned to filmmaking through an MFA in Documentary Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, reuniting her photographic eye with cinematic storytelling. Her short documentary Glad You’re Here (2019) earned multiple awards in 2020, including Best Documentary at the UK Short Film Festival and Best Cinematography at the Canadian Cinematography Awards. In 2024, she received the MVP Prism Prize for producing Sara Sloan’s music video Hunted.
Lisa recently produced the comedy short films Gourmade (2024), screening at the New York Shorts International Film Festival, and Weeds (2025), premiering at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival. She also created and produced the 36-episode music series Live at the Belljar (2013–2016) on YouTube and founded Open Show Toronto, curating 138 artist projects between 2015 and 2018. Her work continues to explore the intersection of creativity, identity, and the unpredictable beauty of human expression.