I come from the beautiful Italian island called Sardinia. That's why I'm also a pasta lover & music addicted.
You should also probably know that I'm obsessed with Isabel Allende and Billy Wilder.
A few other things about me:
I travelled a lot (scroll for my journey)
I have lived craziest stories with roommates (we're talking Stranger Things level)
I once yelled at a teacher who stated that characters don't exist (seriously, these people 🙄)
In this page you'll find about how I decided to become a Writing Coach & why I called by business Storytelling with Love.
But above all, you'll get a sense of what it's like to work with me as your n.1 coach and fan ‪‪❤︎‬
It was 2022 and a Film Student full of dreams had just arrived in Vienna for her internship. She had spent weeks imagining her office outfits, the high heels on the parquet floor, and the keyboard flying under her fingers. The internship became the job and everything felt right.
But less than a year later something shifted: she had been accepted into Drama School. Balancing work and school wasn’t the issue.
She kept daydreaming about using all the Screenwriting notes in her laptop in some classes. She could see her students listening and writing their own things. She didn’t feel comfortable in heels anymore, because as a theatre student she now spent most of her time barefoot. And above all, she wasn’t writing her own stories anymore—it was someone else’s.
She left the job. Twenty-nine days later, with a high fever and some nausea, she hosted her first Screenwriting Class for three wonderful, smiling women.
Yeah, that girl was me, and writing this isn’t easy, because it forces me to look at myself with open eyes. But let’s continue, shall we?
I kept hosting Workshops until I graduated from Drama School. Finally, I had time to focus on my projects. I sat down and decided I needed to officialize it.
I took marketing and digital marketing classes, learned how to build a website on my own and write sales pitches. I needed a name that reflected my way of teaching and approaching art.
For too long I had been my own enemy, my worst critic, the master sabotateur of my own stories—something had to change. I needed to feel good again, to find my writing rhythm.
I needed to apply what I teach my writers to my own writing too.
I decided to stop believing that art must come from pain and changed everything TO LOVE.
THE METHOD
Writing can be incredibly scary. And it often requires a huge amount of courage, resilience and patience.
That is why I believe that writers deserve a guide that makes the path simple.
For too much time I forced myself into believing that art must come from pain. I'm sure you've heard something about it: "if you want to write something meaningful, you have to be hurt" and so on.
While I think that it's important to experience all range of emotions, it is dangerous to stick to the such saying.
I used to love thinking that writers, painters, actors are those special but damned people who live on the edge. (And let's also say that the media does very little to fight the stereotype). I would consider myself "different" because I was part of this category: the dreamers.
But actually putting that to practice brought me to exhaustion and burnout. Unconsciously chasing the “necessary artistic pain” caused me a chronic sore throat that no doctors could fix.
And you can imagine that during that time, I wasn't actually writing A. SINGLE. WORD!
My voice was literally blocked and I would blame myself for being sick and for being unproductive as hell.
Everything shifted when I decided to listen to a new principle: "Lisa, art doesn’t come from PAIN. It is fueled by LOVE. The exact love you use to teach your students and support them in their journey".
Everything that I was preaching others - I was doing the opposite. It was time to shift my own narration as well. When I did I knew the name of my business: Storytelling With Love.
what i believe
Most writers underestimate the power of their stories - they often doubt they're any good.
But people have always craved stories. As we live we narrate ourselves.
That's why my biggest mission in this planet is to help people who want to tell a story.
Because when it's well-written, engaging, emotional and it comes from the heart - it changes lives.
Stories enrich this world, in the most beautiful way.
My own approach as as Writing Coach is based on this principle. That is why I'm never going to judge your idea, topics and theme. You can feel free to open up with me about the deepest reasons that brought you to this story. So that I can support your story and you as the creative mind behind it.
You have notebooks full with character's descriptions. Computer folders somewhere with pieces of dialogue. Papers on your desk. Ideas and ideas and ideas. The writer's mind is a laboratory of thousands of items.
I make the chaos simple and organized: I recognize the leads of the work and help you tidy the mess.
Writing is not always easy, that's for sure. But it's not supposed to be torture, either. It's not just about the finished product, it's about the now and then of the writing moment itself. I help you find the rituals that work for you so that you go from "God, I have to write 5 pages today" to "I can't wait to sit and have my writing time".
Think about last time you heard a beautiful speech and you got inspired.
Or when you watched a beautiful movie and you got inspired.
Or even when you wrote for two hours straight and your started flowing with inspiration.
You notice the pattern? Inspiration is a consequence.
That's why you can't possibly lose precious time by waiting for the Muse to come and visit you. She will does so when she knows you're already doing something interesting. The best way to do that? Setting up reachable deadlines that will take out the pressure of perfectionism.
THE OFFICIAL PROFESSIONAL BIO
A WRITER, ACTRESS, SINGER & creative writing coach
Lisa Camilla La Colla combines professional experience with world-class training: University of Bologna: Bachelor’s in Drama, Art & Music and Master’s in Cinema, Television & Multimedia Productions; UCLA: Professional Screenwriting Program; La Sorbonne University (Paris), CUNY (New York Staten Island), NYFA (New York Film Academy); VETA (Vienna's English Theatre Academy) Full-time Acting Diploma.
After moving to Vienna in 2022, Lisa launched her first Screenwriting Workshops for emerging writers in developing scripts for screen.
In 2025 she founded Storytelling With Love, an online teaching platform based on her teaching philosophy that has empowered +50 alumni to craft compelling narratives.
Let's connect and discover how we can shape your story with love and purpose. Your dreams deserve to be written into existence.
let's get to know each other
I was born in a beautiful island called Sardinia (Italy) and I wrote (and interpreted) my first story as soon as I learned how to handwrite at the age of 5.
At the age of 19 I moved to Bologna, a beautiful Italian city full of culture and University tradition where I began my Bachelor in Drama, Art & Music.
It was during my first year that I attended my first Film Studies Class.The first scene of a movie: a scary chess game between the Knight and Death in Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.
In that moment, something in me changed forever. I knew that that was going to be my path.
When I found out there was something called “Screenwriting” that was the perfect mix between writing stories and film images, I knew who I was. I was going to be a Screenwriter.
I decided to do an Exchange Year at Sorbonne University in Paris. To sum it up: I had to leave in a 8 meter square apartment - (yes, they exist), I had to win a scholarship and pass 16 exams in French, I had to break down over 100 frames of Hitchcock’s Birds in less than an hour.
On the very first week, I had to present my movie story idea to a room full of French students.
I spent nine months working on my French, and by the time my year in Paris ended, I had written my first (shitty) first draft of my script in the city where cinema was born.
Writing by Bachelor’s Thesis in Biopics was fun, but I couldn’t wait for what I had already chosen for my Master’s: A complete analysis of This is Us and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Two Screenwriting Masterpieces!), so I started my Master's.
But right a month later I received an email: I was accepted into UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting. With loving, caring, passionate instructors I wrote two feature scripts in eight months and got my Screenwriting journey started.
(And yes, I did my Master's AND my UCLA course at the same time: studying during the day and writing at night. It was Covid time an had A LOT of time to kill).
Towards the end of my Master’s I applied at Das Rund, a Film Company in Vienna where I did my internship in the Creative Department. I was offered a job as the first Screenwriter of the company.
In this city I discovered my love for Acting and attended VETA (Vienna’s English Theatre Academy for two years). Being an actress has enriched my writing in a way that I never had thought possible before.
In Vienna I felt the urge to start my own business. I wanted to spread my knowledge and help fellow writers in the same way that my teachers have supported me, so I hosted my first course.
Now, this journey has brought me to you. To all the storytellers, the dreamers, and the creatives who want to shape their stories with love.
Whether you’re just starting or you’re deep into your screenwriting adventure, I’m here to guide you, to share the knowledge that my amazing teachers passed on to me, and to cheer you on every step of the way.
Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott)
On Writing (Stephen King)
The Screenwriter's Bible (Dave Trottier)
Healing Through Words (Rupi Kaur)
Atomic Habits (James Clear)
All Manifesting Books I can find
The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)
The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel)
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
Some like it Hot (Billy Wilder)
La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
Legends of the Fall (Edward Zwick)
This is Us (Dan Fogelman, NBC)
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amy Sherman Palladino, Prime Video)
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