Laura Hunter Drago | Screenwriter & Film Producer

Laura Hunter Drago
screenwriter & film producer

Laura Hunter Drago is an award-winning screenwriter and film producer in Los Angeles, California.

She produces feature films & audio drama podcasts through her production companies: New Girl Pictures LLC & Dragon Hunter Productions LLC. Her first feature, To the New Girl, won Best Feature for a First-Time Filmmaker at the Queen Palm International Film Festival and premiered at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres. The film is now available worldwide on platforms like Tubi, the Alice Movies Channel and Little Dot Studio’s Created by Women Channel. She also produces, edits, and performs in the popular audio drama St. Mary’s School (for Children with the Stigmata) which was named one of the “Ten Best Horror Podcasts” by The Mary Sue.

As a screenwriter, Laura won the Fiction Podcast Award at the 2023 Austin Film Festival for her script The Crime at Camp Ashwood. She is the showrunner of the podcast, which is available across audio platforms and has ranked in the top charts worldwide for listeners since its release in late 2023.

Laura was also a Bellem Entertainment Fellowship Finalist at Stowe Story Labs for her feature Kaleidoscopes, which has been on Coverfly’s The Red List in 2023.

Next up, Laura plans to independently produce a crime mystery Christmas drama called Hellton for the Holidays through Dragon Hunter Productions. The screenplay for this project just became a Semifinalist in the 2023 Screencraft Drama Competition and received a “Recommend” rating from WeScreenplay’s Coverage.

Originally from a small town in Virginia, Laura grew up performing in theatre both in school and professionally. She trained as an actress at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with the Atlantic Theatre Company conservatory program, and holds a certificate from NYU Tisch’s School of Film & Television.

Laura was the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of Ms. in the Biz, an online resource community for women in entertainment. She has also written for a variety of outlets including Backstage and NonSociety, and has been featured in print publications including Film Daily, Talkhouse, Bombshell Magazine, and Edith Magazine. Laura is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, Women in Media, and Women in Film Los Angeles.

Watch Laura's interview about Women and Film & her project "To the New Girl" on ABC's Your California Life

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Screenwriting

As a screenwriter, Laura’s work tends to focus on female-led thrillers, mysteries, and coming-of-age dramas with a dark comedic edge. Selected writing accolades include:

Winner at the Austin Film Festival 2023 for The Crime at Camp Ashwood
Finalist for the Bellem Fellowship, Stowe Story Labs 2023 for Kaleidoscopes
Top 50, 10th Annual Launch Pad Feature Competition for Kaleidoscopes
Austin Film Festival Second Rounder for In the Cards and Kaleidoscopes
Semifinalist in Screencraft’s Drama Competition with Hellton for the Holidays

Producer | Film Projects

To the New Girl | Feature Film

Laura’s first feature film as a producer, To the New Girl, was made by an all-female cast and creative team on a micro-budget.

World premiere at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters on Hollywood and Highland as part of the Golden State Film Festival.
Official Selection at the inaugural FEMINYSTA Film Fest in Brooklyn.
Semi-Finalist at the Anaheim International Film Festival.
Four awards at the Queen Palm International Film Festival in Palm Springs, California, including Best Feature by a First Time Filmmaker.
Honored with the Women In Media #ParityInAction Badge because of its support of the representation of women in front of and behind the camera.

To the New Girl is featured on the Fearless FireTV streaming app, the Alice Movies TV Channel, and is available to stream on Tubi, Plex, Amazon Prime Video, and a variety of other platforms.

The Echo | Animated Short

An animated piece called The Echo–made 100% remotely during the height of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic–won runner-up in the Coven Film Festival Quarantine Film Challenge which will screen as part of an online festival through Seed & Spark in July 2020. It also screened at the DaVinci International Film Festival in the “COVIDaVINCI” quarantine film category.

Producer | Audio Drama Podcasts

The Crime at Camp Ashwood

Desperate to finally solve the decades-old cold case of her best friend’s murder, Margot Ingell returns to the scene of the crime. Will the discovery of a long-lost diary reveal the killer, or will the secret forever remain at the bottom of Camp Ashwood’s lake?

Winner Austin Film Festival 2023 Audio Fiction Script Award for Creator & Showrunner Laura Hunter Drago.

St. Mary’s School (for Children with the Stigmata)

St. Mary’s School (for children with the stigmata) is the first scripted podcast series from Laura’s production company New Girl Pictures. With over 60K listeners, the podcast was named one of the Ten Best Horror Podcasts by The Mary Sue in 2023.

Laura produces and edits the podcast, and also voices the character of Florence.