Hello!
My name is Lauren Havel. I'm a Christian filmmaker striving to create beauty, inspire others, and spread hope! My life has already been an incredible journey and I can't wait to keep on using it to the glory of God! If you want to know how I became a filmmaker and the details of this adventure, then read on below!
A Filmmaker's Journey
Lauren Havel began pursuing filmmaking at just thirteen after attending a film camp, where she quickly discovered a passion for storytelling. Later that year, with the support of her mom, she wrote and directed her first short film, I Hate Kate, which went viral on YouTube and garnered over 7.5 million views.
At fourteen, Lauren and her mom began working on a full-length feature film on screen addiction. They completed it in a little over a year despite covid lockdowns and subsequent restrictions. Lauren was presented with The Young Filmmaker Award for “Screened In” at the 2021 Christian Worldview Film Festival.
Her second feature, Not Broken, follows a dyslexic artist searching for her place in the world. The film became one of the most-watched releases in her distributor’s history, with over 6.4 million views on a single platform. Made on a $10,000 budget, Not Broken turned a profit and landed in the top tier of independent films, finding audiences around the world and even being used in a university classroom.
The Ground Beneath Our Feet is Lauren’s most ambitious film to date, bringing together a cast of over two hundred actors and extras. The film has been nominated for the Crown Awards, named a finalist at ZIFF (Zions Indie Film Festival), and celebrated through multiple sold-out screenings across the U.S. Now streaming on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play, the film explores a world searching for identity and truth, inviting viewers to rediscover the hope found in faith, family, and enduring values. Spanning two timelines, the story weaves past and present into a reflection on what remains steady, even as everything else shifts.