Lauren Wolkstein

Lauren Wolkstein was born and raised in Baltimore, Md., by her mother, a schoolteacher, and her father, a colonel in the Air Force who served in several wars, including the Gulf War and the current Iraq War. Lauren received her BA in computer science from Duke University and won the Duke Undergraduate Filmmaker Award. Lauren lived in Los Angeles for a year assisting film producer Chris Hanley at Muse Productions ("The Virgin Suicides," "American Psycho," "Buffalo '66"). She is one of the recipients of the 2007 Lifetime Movie Network Student Filmmaker Award for her first short film at Columbia, "We Three." Her short film, "Dandelion Fall," won awards at several film festivals last year and was picked up for distribution by Wolfe Releasing. Her School of the Arts thesis film, "Cigarette Candy," won the Short Film Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the 2010 SWSX Film Festival; Best Student Short Film at the 2010 Cleveland International Film Festival; and Best Live Action Student Short Under 15 Minutes at the 2009 Palm Springs International ShortFest, among several additional honors. Wolkstein is currently writing and developing two feature films.