Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Edward Lawrence.
Hi Colin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
“Hey. Cool. Okay. My name is Colin Edward Lawrence and I’m a Freelance Writer/Director and Producer for Film, Television, and Social/Online Content based in Los Angeles, California.” My first exposure to the Entertainment Business came through my dad, James, an ex-marine and actor. We’d go to plays off Melrose and hit blockbuster on Sunset for handfuls of movies every weekend. Since I was old enough to push a VHS tape into a VCR, I’ve been in love with film, television, performing arts. All of it. But I never imagined it would be possible to work in those businesses. I never imagined living to 20. It was hard to look ahead because I grew up in survival mode. But I found my way in anyway: through serendipity or maybe destiny. Who the hell knows. And after grinding in Development at Scott Free Productions, Heyday Films, MTV Networks, and 20th Century Fox, and working in Creative Content and Marketing at New Wave Entertainment until 2016, I dove into the independent film world. Since then, I’ve Written, Directed, and Produced numerous films, mainly for streaming and broadcast platforms, with the latest arriving on Tubi in 2023. I’ve also worked in Film and TV production as a Line Producer and Production Manager. But my work doesn’t define me. My struggles have. My friends have. My family does.
My dad shot himself when I was ten, and my mom (a 5th-grade teacher) spent her time trying to cope with the loss and raise her four fatherless boys with no larger family support system. By 14, I was hustling, trying to enterprise my way out of the pit my life had fallen into. By 18, I was working at a Bank, supporting executives and running operations for the mortgage lending division while taking night classes at the local JC–a close friend, Ben Newman, helped get me the job when I needed one. During this time, I learned how to achieve academically through adversity, always sustained by my friends and family. Then, I was given a real glimpse into Entertainment through an internship at MTV Networks with Alex Demyanenko. My life of hustling, adaptation, and obsessively watching movies and TV seemed like a perfect fit in this industry. Through dedication, I turned my grades around. Through discipline, I built myself a career.
High school was a rocky time for me. Despite my issues and being on disciplinary probation, Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana welcomed me back to speak to students about my journey on career day. While there I made friends with another speaker (an Executive Producer named Michael Brosnan), and he connected me to the company where I eventually became a staff Creative Producer: New Wave Entertainment. Several years later, after working on massive projects at all major studios, commercial projects, and promos, my job didn’t survive a department re-organization. However, I’d proven myself and was offered a role in the post-production department. But I knew I needed a change. So, I used this moment to push forward into the Independent Film space. It was time to chase the dream. Time to control my own destiny. And thanks to friends and colleagues in the business chasing the same dream: Kristopher Wynne, Bojan Vucicevic, Andrew Reiber, Richard Switzer, Isabel Frost-Gerhardt, Bradley McLaughlin, Tony Bonanno, and Rachel Amanda Bryant, to name just a few, it never felt like something I did in a vacuum.
Through adversity and success, I’m fueled by these lessons: don’t waste time on things that aren’t meaningful. What’s meaningful to me now? Telling engaging stories sustainably without sacrificing my core principles: challenge audiences, provide financial equity, treat people well, and maybe most importantly – make time for family: my amazingly brilliant and supportive wife Brittany, my two rambunctious boys, and my dog–Ol’ Ben Kenobi. And finally, keeping a mindset geared towards adaptability, keeping the desire for knowledge and growth, and sharing my humanity and love gained from a hard, blessed life, as often as possible. I truly believe we’re all better when we look out for each other and that finding success together is the way towards a better future.
Now, I’m pitching projects to major production companies, studio pods, and independent studios, gearing up for the next step on the career ladder, and I couldn’t be more excited about my slate.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Too many obstacles to list, but I’ll give it a shot. Often times it’s felt like I’m doing whatever I can to stop from drowning. Some of this is covered by NDAs, but I’ll share what I can. I started my career during the 2007 writer’s strike and the Great Recession. So, entry-level jobs weren’t a thing for truly entry-level people. I worked in restaurants while working as a development assistant, slept on my brother’s couch in Culver City, and commuted to LA while living with my mom in Orange County for a few years. Then I was old enough to bartend (finally), and I got a place in Redondo Beach, central to LA, and my film school in Long Beach. Yes, I did all this while taking 12-15 units, and I graduated with honors. Then, I was hospitalized. I pushed things too far. My body shut down, and Crohn’s Disease kicked into gear. I had a handful of surgeries, started bi-monthly biologic chemo infusions (which I still do), and was back on my feet just as I started at New Wave.
During my time at New Wave, Everyone knew the traditional DVD and Content market was on its deathbed. And after its demise, I needed to adapt: working for the trailer group in promos and ads, working for the digital content group, and doing special projects for the company. I was fighting to survive, but I had my eye on the prize. I was writing and directing whatever I could: digital content, promos, and, most importantly, my own short films. I knew I needed to be at the helm of movies and television. So, I bootstrapped everything and made them on nights and weekends.
After I left the company, I spent three months without work. It quickly became apparent that without a big company behind my name, my old clients couldn’t send me work. And the freelance labor market for content and promos was oversaturated with more senior candidates. So, I started looking elsewhere. Luckily a friend reached out looking for a Line Producer for a series of commercials. After that, my friend Kris Wynne reached out to help him on his first movie. That’s how it all started. Then, it’s the normal struggles of finding jobs, selling projects, and sustaining through bouts of unemployment while starting a family
The struggles went into overdrive when Covid hit. When the daycares shut down, I had to leave the workforce to watch my son. It was also a terrifying time to be immunocompromised, and it took tons of work and fortitude to survive when people like me were ending up as statistics. Ultimately, I was out of production for nearly two years. But during that time, I kept developing projects and I managed to sell a handful of them (as a writer or producer.) I got back into production at the end of 2021, working on a film in the California Desert and a few larger jobs on the LA units of big movies. But that was short lived. Just about a year later, the film and TV pipeline started to close because of the pending strikes. I was producing a show for Snapchat just as my son was born. And just as everyone thought, the strikes hit while we were delivering episodes. We were able to finish the show, but then everything stopped for me. I mean everything. But that didn’t stop me from pushing the entertainment career boulder up the never-ending hill. I kept writing on my own: a new feature film as well as a comedy pilot. A film I’m producing received the SAG Interim Agreement, and we kept moving forward where we could.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a multi-hyphenate Writer, Director, and Producer (creative and line) born and raised in Los Angeles. I have experience in the studio system, independent film, digital content, television and marketing. I was formally trained at the film school known for educating Steven Spielberg, Joe Johnston, and a number of other industry titans: the School of Cinema, in the Advanced Narrative Production track, at California State University Long Beach. I’m continuing my education at USC Marshall business school, working towards an MBA.
As a writer, I aim to tell generation-defining stories that challenge audiences. I like big, complicated worlds, unique characters, and entertaining narratives above all. My first work written was published in the OC Register while I was in elementary school. But it took me until my twenties to really start developing my craft. But honestly, I’m most proud of my continued growth and development as an artist. Everything I write seems to be getting better. I’ve kicked off the artistic constraints drilled into me from film school and can work in formats or on projects that require artistic flexibility. But I can also tell a damn good story, and I always try to combine what I learned and loved about classical stories and modern artistic tastes. I’m a story fiend. I can talk shop all day and can tinker endlessly. My happy place is talking story with like-minded people over a few drinks.
As a Director, each project I work on, I make massive leaps forward. Directing is about using the tools at your disposal to tell the best story. And each film or project, I learn more about those tools and myself. I learned that my goal is to find my truth in the story and then perfectly align the artistic tools to showcase that truth and the story: actors, music, sound, cinematography, editing, production design, costumes, etc. Ultimately, I view Directing as an extension of Writing, so of course I do a script pass on everything I direct. And funny enough, Directing is what lead me to really engage with my writing on another level. I needed to explore the granular truth of a story at the point of inception. To me, the most important part of Directing is to tell an engaging story. The movie or story won’t work if I put my truth before the quality of the entertainment. This medium, this art, and this business, in my opinion, is about creating an entertaining communal experience. And that’s best achieved when you’re engaging and entertaining people. I’m most proud of my last independent feature film, GASLIT (also known as IS MY DAUGHTER REALLY DEAD and FATAL DECEIT). I’m particularly proud of the way I found an angle into the story that I was passionate about and how I executed the story with extremely limited resources, ultimately leading the project to a ton of success in distribution: North American Theatrical release, then Lifetime, Netflix, TF1, UK5, all the major platforms.
As a producer, I have the broadest skill set because I’ve been doing it professionally for the longest time. I can develop creative for multiple mediums: film, television, digital platforms, broadcast platforms, make the project to required creative and logistical specifications, and deliver it to all distribution platforms. Or I can plug into a larger team and support senior members in Production or Creative Development. I’m known for my work on THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY, Hallmark Movies, and Lifetime Movies, and for my work on digital content and advertising on a broad array of brands, platforms, and franchise films. I own a small production services company and can produce content from inception through legal and delivery. What sets me apart from others is that I’ve worked successfully in many avenues of the business. I can offer a global perspective on a project and more accurately balance the needs of every stakeholder while ushering a project through to successful completion. I value creativity, but most importantly, people.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I don’t have a lot. Growing up in the house of a Marine with dangerous PTSD and alcoholism left its mark: a giant void in my early childhood memory. My memories are more like snapshots of happiness. I remember sitting in a theater, movie hopping, with my mom on a hot day. Going to blockbuster every weekend and renting stacks of movies for a dollar. Playing sports in the street with neighborhood kids. Going to the beach during El Nino and watching the pro surfers try not to get clobbered. Stuff like that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.celfilms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
colinedwardlawrence/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
ColinEFLawrence
Image Credits
@clairchangfilms: Main Photo
