Lauren Versel

Lauren Versel is a founding member of Lucky Monkey Pictures and has three decades of experience in film, television, and theater as a writer, director, editor, producer and financier. Her credits as a producer include CUSTODY, written and directed by Tony award winner James Lapine (Into The Woods, Sunday In the Park With George), starring Viola Davis, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Hayden Panettiere, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, adapted from the cult musical by Tony award winner Jason Robert Brown and directed by Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King, P.S. I Love You, Behind the Candleabra), starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, (TIFF premiere) VAMPS, written and directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High), produced with Stuart Cornfeld and Red Hour, (Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder) starring Alicia Silverstone, Sigourney Weaver, Krysten Ritter, Wallace Shawn, and Malcolm McDowell, Tribeca Film Festival audience award winning CITY ISLAND, written and directed by Raymond De Felitta (Madoff, Two Family House), starring Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Alan Arkin and Emily Mortimer. Lauren is an executive producer on ARBITRAGE, (Sundance 2012), written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, starring Richard Gere, Tim Roth, Brit Marling and Susan Sarandon. Lauren has worked extensively in many aspects of the industry. As a screenwriter of 25 screenplays, she has collaborated with many noted producers, directors and actors, including Barry Levinson, John Frankenheimer, David Brown, and Bill Murray. Lauren directed music videos, short films and the recent web series HEIDEE. As a television producer and editor, Lauren created documentary, news and narrative television content for CBS, PBS, NBC, MTV, and HBO. She wrote, directed, and produced the off off Broadway play, “The Barbie Project.”

Lauren earned a BFA from the University of Maryland and was a Directing Fellow at The American Film Institute in Los Angeles. She is a founding member of the D.C. chapter of Women in Film and Television. She is a member of WGA, PGA and NYWIFT. Lauren lives in Manhattan and Garrison, NY with her husband, daughter, son, cat and dog.