About Laurie Hutzler
Bio:
Based in Los Angeles, Laurie Hutzler assists entertainment industry professionals develop feature films and television program formats for both the domestic and international markets. She created the Emotional Toolbox®, a unique method that offers a set of specific techniques, exercises and tools to create and strengthen emotion-based creative content.
Laurie has worked as a consultant to the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, talkbackTHAMES, Mersey Television/Lime Pictures and Aardman Animation Studio (UK), for Pixar University, Disney and Dreamworks (US), Endemol Netherlands (NL), RTL, Weidemann Berg and Grudy UFA (Germany), GloboMedia (Spain) and TNT (Russia) among others.
She is a consultant for Endemol and for FremantleMedia across a variety of formats in the UK, Europe and Australia. She is currently the Head Writer and Executive Producer of the forthcoming FremantleMedia original online drama “Beyond Lemonade.”
Laurie Hutzler has had several plays produced in theaters across the US, winning two Madoline Cervantes Awards at Lincoln Center in New York City. She was a staff writer and story consultant on Oscar-winner Paul Haggis’ NBC series, The Black Donnellys. She also worked with Haggis on his recent films: In the Valley of Elah and Quantum of Solace.
She consulted on two Oscar-winning foreign language films, as a story advisor on Tsotsi (South Africa) and on The Counterfeiter (Austria), as an eQuinoxe script advisor.
Laurie taught screenwriting in the MFA program at the UCLA Film School for 10 years, and was recently an Artist-in-Residence in Television and Digital Entertainment at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She has taught for the Royal Literary Fund in Cambridge, England; The Sorbonne in Paris, France; Royal Holloway College, University of London, London England; DFFB film school in Berlin, Germany and IFS film school in Cologne, Germany.
Endorsements:
Henrietta Fudakowski, Story Editor of Tsotsi, Oscar® Winning Best Foreign Language Film
Thank you so much for your workshop this evening. It was enlightening. Your approach to the Character Types were the answers I was searching for my novel. What you shared with us gave me a stronger sense of self and purpose. Of this I am deeply grateful. And know this- your name shall be on the thank you page when my novel is published. Michael J. Christensen, novelist
“The greatest fear for any writer is the blank page, whether you are starting to write for the first time or even if you have had a considerable amount of success. Laurie’s material takes away that fear of failure by offering bite sized exercises which will allow you to realize the dream of writing a full length screenplay, without having to change your life to achieve it.”
Hayley McKenzie, Story Editor Casualty (BBC) and Blue Murder (ITV)
“I had the pleasure of attending your Workshops at both ‘ITV Manchester’ on ‘Blue Murder’ and at the BBC on ‘Casualty’ – they were stunningly useful!”
Stanley D. Williams PhD, author The Moral Premse
“These are great reference guides to character virtues and flaws that will empower any writer and deepen any drama. I’ve re-read the Power of Conscience eBook three times now, and each time I have learned more and more about my antagonist, what he is, why he exists, his world view, and what motivates him. I recommend these eBooks highly.”
Nick Malmholt, Head of Creative Development, Worldwide Drama, FremantleMedia
“Laurie’s keen grasp of storytelling and her focus on emotional truth have inspired our teams of writers, producers and directors around the world. Whether in Germany, Britain, Hungary, Australia – the list goes on – Laurie’s practical, entertaining methods work in harmony with local cultural specifics. The result has been better stories, more truthful characters and creative teams with a better understanding not only of drama, but of themselves”
Claire Dobbin, Head of the Australian Film Festival and International Development Executive
“Laurie’s materials are remarkable because they are are a unique combination of analysis, tools of the trade, inspiration and encouragement. The biggest obstacle to writers is self belief. That is why I find Laurie’s work so inspiring. It acknowledges the painful personal, self-doubting process involved in writing screenplays. Not only that, her work gives writers critical professional tools. It’s a formidable and empowering combination.”
“Unlike the other books on screenwriting, Laurie offers concrete, achievable advice with specific, clear examples. ….many of the examples drawn from life as well as from the screen. They don’t generalise or waffle or confuse. They present a clearly articulated and deeply thought through understanding of what lies at the heart of story…character. What is so brilliant is that before Laurie, no one that I am aware of has managed to present this maxim in a way that writers can actually utilise. Many writers well understand the principle of character differentiation and character in action…but they have not been able to translate this into their screenplays. But Laurie shows them how. I think her work is a major breakthrough and writers around the world should be eternally grateful.”
Jane Dauncey, BBC Series Producer, Casualty
“An unexpectedly stimulating course. The emphasis was very usefully on depth and truthfulness of story and emotional contact with the viewer- rather than on marketability, as I’d feared.”
Barbara Machin, BBC Series Consultant, Casualty
“I very much I enjoyed and valued the day with Laurie . It was brilliantly presented and provided so much food for thought both as a writer and in my role as creative consultant looking to help invigorate and re-excavate long running series – in this case Casualty. Her structures and analysis were wonderfully thought provoking and have given a very practical and exciting basis for further work. The ultimate test of a good workshop – it kept on working after she had left the room !”
Mervyn Watson, BBC Executive Producer, Casualty
“I was delighted that Laurie Hutzler was able to spend some time with the Editorial team on Casualty. Casualty is the worlds longest-running hospital drama, with 48 hour-long episodes that play on Saturday nights at 8:15 on BBC One, and have done so for the last 20 years. Despite that longevity, work has to constantly be done on character and character mix, and Laurie’s material was a very effective new approach for us. As well as approaching new characters, over-familiarity with established characters by editorial people as well as actors can soften the edges and blur definition, and Laurie provides the means to dissect and analyse, and sharpen up. And one really great quality that comes through her work is that she really cares about character, wherever they may be playing, a quality that rubs off on her audiences.Time very well spent.
Alison Davis, Talkback Thames Series Producer, The Bill
“The fantastic thing that Laurie’s seminar did for us above everything else was remind us WHY we do what we do, and to tap into our need to connect emotionally with our audience. When you’re working on a high-volume long-runner, you sometimes lose sight of the important stuff in order simply to make the show, and it was so inspiring to be able to step back and really analyse who our characters are, why and how they work, and to get excited about telling stories about them. Laurie’s approach is a wonderful system for getting to the bottom of problems that we might have been avoiding, and really being able to enjoy coming up with solutions. We’re finding that using the character types when we’re struggling with a storyline or character dynamic really helps to unlock things for us.”
Jonathan Phillips, BBC Producer, Doctors
“I found Laurie’s approach really worthwhile and we’ve really reaped the benefits of it at our story conference. The Emotional Toolbox has now allowed us to really clarify who the characters are and why they do what they do.
An executive for a major broadcaster was transitioning into a creative position in that company.
