WRITING
TV SERIES / PLAYS / ARTICLES / WORKS IN DEVELOPMENT
FILM
SOLO WORK
My artistic mandate has always been to put diverse and complex women in front of an audience and to enhance women’s leadership skills behind the scenes. My work as a screenwriter does just that, it puts women front and centre and makes space for them at every level of development and production. I have created over a dozen exciting new projects for television and film.
Solo projects include: Meathead (based on a true story), Old Face (a futuristic western), The School Project (a New Canadian feel good story), and Honey Pines (a Senior Citizen comedy).
WRITING TEAM: Lauren Holfeuer and Izad Etemadi
Izad and Lauren met as a couple of youngins’ while performing on the Fringe Festival circuit in 2013. He was playing a young gay man escaping Iran and she was playing a young Russian bride escaping her assassin husband. It was love (read friendship) at first sight. Sadly, the pair would go five years before physically seeing each other again. Cut to 2019 when Lauren finally moved to Toronto. Sigh, what took her so long? They quickly became a dynamic writing duo. Now, they're coming at you with more than a dozen exciting new projects, all in different genres with their own unique tones. As a result of their backgrounds in theatre and producing, Izad and Lauren work as a highly collaborative team and aspire to push the boundaries of creative, visual storytelling; using comedy to highlight the dark sides of life. Their dynamic allows them to look at complex issues from highly nuanced and differing perspectives. Their writing examines gender, race, diverse bodies, immigration, addiction, class, wealth inequality. They are committed to putting the kinds of people on camera that we don’t get the pleasure of seeing enough.
Izad and Lauren turned the pandemic lockdown into a never ending writers retreat. Now their catalogue consists of shows about dogs with secrets, capitalism in magic, vigilante suburbanites, feuding best-frenemies, and one very special plant daddy.
*** Contact Lauren for more information on scripted projects (one pagers, treatments, pilots, pitch decks, etc. available).
ARTICLES
Article for Intermission Magazine: SHE CRIES
Article for The Billfold: BE GRATEFUL. BUT DON'T LET THEM USE THAT AGAINST YOU.
THEATRE
Barbara Is Drowning
Barbara is drowning. A psychological examination of the wife of a high powered executive accused of sexual misconduct. Barbara weighs her options as she confronts the stories of the women her husband has harmed. Barbara must decide if she will stand by blindly or risk everything for the truth. A story about guilt, sacrifice, and the impossible decisions women are forced to make.
This play was developed as part of the Young Creators Unit at Playwrights Workshop Montreal under the guidance of Dramaturg Jesse Stong and with further development from Artistic & Executive Director Emma Tibaldo.
The Sisters Fox
Come see the strange and peculiar Fox Sisters as they communicate with the dead. Witness how their dark skill brings them fortune and fame until rumours spread that their clairvoyance is a hoax. Maggie and Kate Fox fight to hold onto the empire they've built before rumours destroy everything. Witness The Sisters Fox and ask yourself, do you believe in ghosts?
THE SISTERS FOX is inspired by a surprisingly true story.
Created by Lauren Holfeuer and Alex Hartshorn, this new work premiered at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival in 2017 and was voted one of "Best of the best at Potashcorp Fringe Festival" by the Saskatoon Starphoenix.
The Mountain's Last Song
The Mountain's Last Song is a new musical about sisters (Ada and Hettie Jones) who, in the early 1900’s, flee their hometown after a coal mining disaster devastates the area. The tale is told ten years later as the women perform a live concert, singing old folk songs from home. Throughout the performance Ada and Hettie recount the events that led up to the disaster and the moments that have brought them to this; the last show they will ever perform. This concert threatens to tear the sisters apart as they try, once and for all, to leave their dark past behind.
In the summer of 2017 The Mountain's Last Song was workshopped with director Emma Tibaldo and festival dramaturge Vern Thiessen at the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre Spring Festival of New Plays.
The music for this piece is co-written with Geoffrey Smith of the Saskatoon band Gunner and Smith. Funding for this collaboration was made possible by support from the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
The Ghost and The Darkness
Two one act plays: The Ghost and The Darkness. A tale with it's origins in the incredible history of the two lions of Tsavo. Nothing to do with lions and yet everything to do with creatures who bite. In The Darkness a horrific event is revisited by the four friends who were closest to it. In The Ghost a young woman attempts to find a path forward after an assault.
In May of 2016 The Ghost and The Darkness was selected to be part of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre Spring Festival of New Plays. Nina Lee Aquino was the festival dramaturg and Chelsea Haberlin directed the workshop. After three days of working with four incredible actors The Ghost and The Darkness was presented for a public reading. This experience was invaluable to the development of the production.
In June of 2017 Lauren traveled to Toronto to undertake mentorship and training for Darkness / Ghost at Factory Theatre under the guidance of Artistic Director Nina Lee Aquino. This project was made possible with support from Creative Saskatchewan's Business Capacity Grant Program.
The Adventures of Millicent and Margaret
The Adventures of Millicent and Margaret is a brand new indie-musical set in the not too distant future. Millicent and Margaret, two life long best friends, set off on the biggest adventure their world has ever seen. They leave behind the city, the only place they have ever known, to set out across the wilderness in search of something better. Along the way they are faced with many dangers, toxic land, treacherous mountain passes, threatening strangers, ocean storms, and the greatest danger of all … losing each other. Millicent and Margaret summon their strength, take a risk, and try to save us all on their journey through the world.
An odyssey for a better world.
Featuring seven brand new musical compositions by Lauren Holfeuer.
SHORT PLAYS:
ASYLUM OF THE BIRDS - Ruminating on her lineage and the brother she has recently buried, an old woman clings to life in order to keep away those who would take her place when she is gone. Produced by Shortcuts play Festival, February 2019.
KNEAD - Two friends get their hands dirty making a loaf of bread and their hearts dirty determining what falling out love feels like. Produced by Shortcuts Play Festival, 2016.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Captive - confinement, madness, sanity, women under lock and key. Their crime? Speaking Up.
Wronged - Wronged by their fathers, by their true-loves, by history, and by the author himself, Shakespeare’s leading ladies come together in this dark comedy, to protest what has become of their legacies. A kidnapped starlet, an unrecognizable Bob Shakespeare, and furious famous heroines ensure blood will be spilt in the fight for freedom.
Ayumi in the Heart of Radiation - Seven years after the earthquake / tsunami that crushed parts of Japan and caused the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Power Plant Ayumi must face the aftermath of radiation to return home or find her brother before it’s too late.