Born in New Orleans and raised as a ski racer in Sun Valley, Idaho, she fell in love with both French and film at the age of 16 and inspired by her French teacher, she moved to Paris at 18 to study film.
She continued her academic pursuits at the University of Illinois in Chicago, where she studied with cutting edge video artists. This led to working for SIGGRAPH and later to winning a Sobel Scholarship at the San Francisco Art Institute for her video art portfolio.
After working as a freelance writer at the Dallas Morning News, she moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1990, returning to her love of skiing. But her love of France pulled her across the Atlantic once again, and in 1996 she moved to Paris started riding dirt bikes in the Forest of Fountainbleu and decided to make a video game about the Dakar rally. This led to a fortuitous meeting with Sony PlayStation and the quest to follow her idea.
After marrying her talented husband Charles in 2002, they lived on five acres in the sagebrush in a 250 square foot ‘love shack’ with no electricity or water, for six years before building a ‘real’ house.
While she once thought her eclectic work history was a liability, her breadth of international travel and work and academic experience is a perfect foundation for Natasha’s Race to Dakar project.
Lisa Levy
327 Fite Drive 575-770-9844 Las Cruces, NM 88001 natashaempire@gmail.com
EDUCATION
New Mexico State University, Creative Media Institute 2010 - present
Digital film major. Crimson Scholar.
New Mexico Highlands University 2004/2005
Coursework in multimedia, screenwriting and game design.
San Francisco Art Institute 1985-1987
Performance video major. Won Sobel Scholarship for video art portfolio.
University of Illinois, Chicago 1983-1985
Film major. Studied video production, editing, documentary and dance.
American University in Paris, France 1977
French and film studies.
FILM / VIDEO / WRITING Experience
Natasha’s Race to Dakar Transmedia Performance Project 1997-present
Creation of video game concept based on Paris-Dakar off road race. Created
game characters and story. Ongoing.
The History Channel: Decoded Season 2 2011
Production assistant on New Mexico location episode shoot
Lucid Dreaming, New York, NY 2004
Assistant editor; The Cats of Mirikitani, directed by Linda Hattendorf.
Dharma Vision, FPMT, Taos, NM 2000-2003
Assistant editor and assistant producer for 26-part documentary series on
Tibetan Buddhism made for Mongolian television.
Camille de Casabianca, Paris, France 1997
Translation of screenplay from French to English. Co-wrote dialogue.
BUSINESS/ADMINISTRATION
Taos Lending Team, Taos, NM 2005-2009
Loan officer and mortgage loan processor.
Chateau Bliss 2006-2007
Owner/builder of 1500 sf pumice-crete home designed by my husband Charles Wemple.
Marketlink Perfect Pitch, Taos, NM 2008
32 hour Business Skills Training Program for Entrepreneurs.
THEATER / PERFORMING
ReNeux, Taos, NM 2010
Model performed in Baroque fashion show at Lighting of Le Doux street festival.
Mary Bruscini, Voice lessons 1999-2001
Taos RANT Wrote and performed monologues. 1998-199
Acting International, Paris, France 1997
writing and performing monologue training
KTAO, Taos, NM 1996
DJ for local radio station.
Paris-Taos Swap, Taos, NM 1996
Co-wrote and performed theater piece with writer/filmmaker Alice Van Buren.
MOTORCYCLING / ATHLETICS
Women’s Motorcycling Conference 2009Rally Management Services 2008
Off-road and sand dunes training with Dakar veteran Charlie Rauseo
Taos Cycle Works, Taos, NM 2003-2004
Service writer at motorcycle dealership.
Ecole Moto Verte, Nemours, France 1997
Intensive off-road training school.
Ernie Blake Ski School, Taos Ski Valley 1990-2005
Expert instructor, all levels, all terrains.
