Janet Y. Lawerence is an talented Jamaican born Film writers and director. Her parents migrated to the UK when she was an infant and was educated in London, England.

Alongside her first degree, she studied film and television. Her first film for channel 4 in 1985/6, Mistaken for Mad, looked at the Caribbean and Asian communities and mental health. She worked briefly in the BBC newsroom and freelanced in the industry and developed several projects for the BBC. Janet worked on the series Eye on the Prize in the US on the history of the Civil Rights Movement created and produced by Henry Hampton. It was nominated for an OSCAR and numerous other awards, including an Emmy and a Peabody.

She is a member of Women in Film and television, the The Royal Television Society, and the British Film Institute and was invited to the Sundance Film Festival by Robert Redford. She was a temporary editor for The Gleaner (UK) and a board member of the Edinburgh Film Festival. In addition, she is a guest lecturer and has been a private tutor. She is currently filming a documentary.

Lawrence was a member of the Lignum Vitae Club, a charity that falls under the patronage of the Jamaican High Commission. She also provided career advice for several years at Whitgiff School (Croydon