Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Brooks.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My first foray into filmmaking was in college at UMass Amherst. I was studying theater performance but wasn’t really any good at acting. I LOVED theater, though; everything about creating a space that brought stories to life and allowed everyone involved to be transported somewhere else. I was also interested in exploring this same passion in film, but UMass didn’t have a film production department; they had some film studies classes, which I took, and a journalism focus, which I did not. Instead, I started getting together with other people interested in actually making a film and formed the Umass Film Production Club. We would meet once a week and basically stare at each other. We had no idea what to do or where to start. For a year, we got together talked about making a movie, what kind of movie, who would do what, where we would screen it, etc. But what the movie actually was escaped us. The summer after that year of endless staring contests, I moved to Los Angeles with 2 friends, one car, and about $400 into a studio apartment. We slept on deflating air mattresses and ate chicken quesadillas because they were cheap to make. We spent the whole summer working as extras on big-budget movies like Easy A, Iron Man 2, and Valentine’s Day, and I spent almost the entire time just watching everyone else. I learned what a 1stAD was, how sound worked, that PAs are the lifeblood of the film world, and marveled at just how much equipment could fit into a closet-sized filming space.
I read everything I could on the art of making movies and started considering what it was that I actually wanted to do in the process. The more I read, the more “producer” clanged around in my brain. When we drove back across the country to Massachusetts, I had a plan. I rocked up to our first Film Production Meeting and wrote SCRIPT across the white board. Looking back, it seems wildly simple, but that’s what we needed: the utter basics.
I called for everyone in the room to write a five-page script, we would read them, vote on it, and make it, whatever it took. And it happened. It took nearly two semesters, but we picked a script, cast it, found a location, filmed, edited, and premiered it in the Spring. This was at the end of my junior year.
My senior year we made 5 shorts and a very short feature.
I was thrilled.
Then graduation came, and I had no idea how to take this base knowledge of filmmaking into the real world. So, I did what most people in the film industry do: I got an internship. I worked unpaid all summer on infomercials. I did research, fetched coffees, did lock up, and tried to soak it all in. Come the fall I’d finally made enough connections to get a JOB as a PA and actually make money.
I spent the next year working predominantly in commercials and reality television around Boston, MA. But California had me spellbound. I knew I had to move to California. A friend of mine got into law school in San Diego, and I knew I had to go with her. So, we packed up and moved across the country. The film industry was out of reach in the relaxed and chill San Diego vibes, but I filled my time with odd jobs. I worked teaching science through art in an elementary school program, spent an entire 6 weeks at Home Depot, and finally settled at a telecommunications company as a project manager. I was 24 and coordinating a $4 million dollar radio rebranding effort.
I loved nearly everything about it. Scheduling, managing budgets, ordering parts, coordinating teams, but I could not care less about radio frequencies or microwave substations. I knew I needed to get back into the logistics of something creative.
So, I found graduate-producing programs and ended up at Chapman University, where I got my MFA in Film and Television Producing in 2017. After graduating, I have used the skills learned there and my network to produce a variety of projects, from digital series to feature films, working both independently and with studios and brands. My skillset lies in breaking down a project, budgeting it, and executing it to completion.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with most stories, there have definitely been ups and downs, but rolling with the punches is one of my strong suits. I have been very fortunate to find myself in stable long-term jobs and able to supplement those with creative pursuits as well. For the most part, my path has been slow but steady.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am best known for creating budgets and schedules. Being able to breakdown and script, and budget it for any level has been an asset to making me a versatile hire and producer. I am comfortable figuring out how to stretch every last penny on independent films while knowing how to spend responsibly when the budget is comfortable. Working with budgeting factors like different unions, state tax rebates, and even pricing for international filming sets up apart from other producers with only one specialty. While people come to me for my ability to budget everything and anything, the foundation of my reputation is honesty and transparency. I always strive to be clear and communicative with everyone, whether it is creative, receiving notes on their scripts, hiring crew and discussing rates, or discussing an obstacle in production. Those who work with my know that they will get the truth from me and that I am always trying to be fair and balanced rather than taking sides.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Liking people is extremely important to my success and the success of any producer. I work and deal with people all day long in every facet of my job. I engage with peoples’ feelings, worries, and pride. Enjoying the work of learning about people, navigating different personalities, and bringing them all together is essential to creating a project. Producers are the glue that hold a film together, everyone has to want to stick with you.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbrooks13/
