People

Stop and Stir Arts Ltd is an equal opportunities company.

Graphic design by ANEKO Design Services Ltd
Website by Textensor

Founders and Directors

Lizelle Bisschoff has previously completed a BA degree in Communication Studies as well as an Honours degree in Literary Theory and Audiovisual Production Management in South Africa. In the UK, she has completed a Masters degree in Cultural Studies at the University of Edinburgh, with distinction, and she is currently busy with a PhD in the University of Stirling's School of Languages, Cultures and Religions, researching the role of women in African cinema. Lizelle has written and produced an experimental short film in South Africa, C.H.A.I.R., in 2001 funded by national television station M-Net, which won a merit award for style, sound and editing. She has acted as writer, producer and performer in music and theatre productions at national arts festivals in South Africa from 1998 - 2002, as well as at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004. For the Fringe production, she set up a production company, Mestiza Productions, with the other people involved. She has lectured in literary theory, linguistics and English in undergraduate courses in South Africa, and is currently teaching European Film Studies to undergraduate students at the University of Stirling. In between studying and travelling in Europe, Africa and Asia, she has worked in administration, marketing and publishing at universities and in industry, in South Africa and the UK.

Melissa Trachtenberg completed a BA in English Literature and Women's Studies from Colby College in Maine, during which time she directed several musical productions and performed and recorded a wide range of musical styles. She took post-graduate film classes at Columbia University and collaborated on award-winning student productions. She completed a Masters in Cultural Studies at the University of Edinburgh (with Distinction) and is currently embarking on a PhD exploring a feminist perspective of Avant-Garde (and Neo-Avant-Garde) Cinema. In between academic pursuits, Melissa has worked as an income tax preparer in New York, and produced and performed musical and theatrical pieces in New York City and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.