Lauren Smith

Lauren Marissa Smith is a versatile drama writer and producer who focuses on creating provocative, raw, and humorous storytelling that amplifies the interior lives of those on the margins, particularly Black women and girls. Her work explores themes of love, relationships, intimacy, connection, family, and the impact of incarceration, classism, and violence on oppressed communities.

Notable projects include Free Black Girls, which chronicles her time as a burlesque dancer in New York City; Me+You, a coming-of-age story centering a young woman's journey to escape her father’s criminal past and live life on her own terms; and Starlets, a heist drama featuring a female family of master thieves.

Lauren is a recent alumna of The Writer's Colony, a residency fostered by Mara Brock Akil's Story27 Productions. Additionally, she participated in New Wave Writers, a year-long program led by Marcus Gardley, which cultivates new voices of color. In September 2023, she graduated from the Mentorship Matters program, created by Raelle Tucker and Gianna Sobol to support emerging writers. Through the program, she was mentored by Terri Kopp for one year.

She has performed in over 30 productions as an actor. Highlights include Their Eyes Were Watching God, On Strivers Row, Macbeth, Day of Absence, and Funnyhouse of a Negro. She has produced multiple theater projects, live events, burlesque shows, and short films. Most recently, she is producing a TV/film industry-focused podcast, Basecamp, and a docu-series highlighting the work of intimacy coordinator and advocate Teniece Divya Johnson.

As an artist and producer, she has collaborated with Columbia University, National Black Theater, Negro Ensemble Company, The Public Theater, House of YES, and the Brooklyn Museum. She served as a Project Director at WOW Cafe Theater, managing operations and producing programming for interdisciplinary multimedia artists. At Brown Girls Burlesque, she was also a Creative Producer, leading the production of panels, educational content, and themed shows and series.

Her roles in corporate America across multiple industries, Finance, Real Estate, Sustainable Energy, and Technology as a marketing strategist, writer, and project manager have supported her endeavors as a content creator and producer.

Lauren is a proud Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Spelman College and the British American Drama Academy’s Oxford Program.

She is currently repped by Paradigm and Industry.