Lauren Veloski

For the past year, I've been writing and fine-tuning the Season One treatments + Pilot episodes of two original comedy series I've created: "BELLS & WHISTLES" (a flailing brother-sister duo combat loserdom with loserdom) and "SAFARI" (a disaster comedy-mystery set in the otherworldly wilds of an African safari gone off-the-rails). The pilot scripts of both series have advanced to the final stages of several script labs (see below AFFILIATIONS for more info) and are currently in circulation.

Series Producer on "BE THE HERO," a special 5-video short doc web series for MAKERS.com. MAKERS is an Emmy-nominated, groundbreaking online/television broadcast initiative telling powerful stories about game-changing women via 3-minute profiles on everyone from Hillary Clinton to Lena Dunham. "BE THE HERO" reinvented the standard MAKERS format by profiling 5 ass-kicking "everyday women" in longer (10 min+) doc/verite hybrid pieces: from Sana Amanat, creator of Marvel’s first-ever Muslim-American female superhero, to Lorella Praeli, an undocumented immigrant and DREAMer activist now heading Hillary Clinton’s Latino outreach. I devised the series creative conceit, cast, directed, and wrote “BE THE HERO”—striving to create a bold, edgy episodic hook that would appeal to millennials and broad online audiences alike.

Hired to take over as Producer on the promo slate for the new Sundance show "The Approval Matrix." Led the creation/completion of 20+ all-new promo spots—from script to final delivery. Post-Produced for tech spec adherence and oversaw all delivery variants, while working in daily collaboration with our client to address multiple rounds of notes on extremely tight turn-around—without sacrificing quality.

Supervising Story Producer on a 6-episode (60 min) doc miniseries for Discovery Health & TLC. Duties included: pinpointing main character arcs, crafting series-wide style & structure, overseeing three (simultaneous) producer/director teams in the field, watching raw footage & pulling FCP selects, choosing our final 12 A-characters from the casting pool, devising act-to-act structures for all 6 episodes, creating series creative documents for the network, conferring directly with the network on all rough cuts.

New Bravo series “Chef Roblé & Co.” follows young Brooklyn chef Roblé Ali as he embarks on a risky first-time venture: catering parties for NYC’s most discriminating clientele, his success largely at the mercy of his odd-ball motley crew and bossy big sister—part-foodie paradise, part relationship drama. • Worked with my Editor to translate two chaotic 5-camera parties into a nail-biter of an episode. Built 6-act structure out from there, with an eye to series-wide character threads. • Scripted and directed all sit-down cast interviews; scripted all pick-ups. • Created Final Cut string-outs for my Editor for all scenes, with clear scene arc/comedy direction. • Oversaw all cuts, revisions, network note implementation and story structure rethinks: from first assembly to picture lock, managing Bravo note execution on an extremely tight post schedule.

Produced two episodes of MTV’s Emmy-award winning doc series “MADE”: “Miss Redan Pageant” (March 2011 — June 2011) “Natalie Nakles: Rockstar” (September 2010 — December 2010) • Generated full creative plan/script in pre-pro, supervised 2 shooter-producers (shooting 6-7 days/week), communicated key story beats daily, problem solved, adjusted shoot goals as story evolved—all with a fast-approaching “final event” deadline by which to capture full dramatic arc. • Worked closely with Miss America 2008 and a madcap “School of Rock” instructor (our respective “coaches”) to invent innovative scenarios tailored to the girls’ personal hurdles. • Devised the act breakdown, watched 150 hours+ raw footage, created daily Avid/Final Cut scene string-outs, and managed 2 editors simultaneously—all on a condensed 6-week edit schedule. • Wrote the episodes’ full VO scripts; directed all VO recording.

Hired to do a round of comedy punch-ups and polishes for the short film “For the First Time,” starring up-and-coming actress Eve Hewson (“Enough Said”) and produced by Spirit Award-winner Karin Chien. The film doubled as Sony’s music video for the hit single (from chart-topping UK band The Script).

Wrote and story produced a 1-hour documentary special profiling TAPP (Teenage Parent Program), a high school in Louisville, KY, for pregnant and parenting teen moms. The school is a rare fortress of support for a demographic otherwise fending with critically few resources. 440,000 teenage girls will give birth this year, and only 40% of them will graduate. “Baby High” tracks education as the crux of the pregnancy/poverty cycle. The show follows four determined TAPP seniors, integrating interviews to compellingly illustrate the obstacles endemic to teen pregnancy and the severity of the problem. • Worked closely with my editor to “write” the arcs start-to-finish, from RC to picture lock. • Wrote the full VO script (narrating each of our four girls’ daily struggles in their own voices), as well as the show open. Directed the recording of all our V.O., remotely. • Worked directly with the EP & Director to catch our characters’ emerging stories in the field, create trackable story arcs and find a compelling portrait of the educational imperative. • Collaborated with our graphics team, Lead Animator, and Music Supervisor to develop full creative “look” of the special from top to bottom, including an all-new opening title sequence.