Laurel was born and raised in San Diego, California. Before she could write she was painting and playing the piano. At the age of eight she began dramatic training and eventually became a member of the San Diego Old Globe Theatre, where she worked with such well-known actors as Marsha Mason and M.A.S.H.'s David Ogden-Stiers. She was also a member of New Image Teen Theatre, directed by Sister Act's Kathy Najimy. The troupe wrote and performed a show for various San Diego high schools and for PBS viewers nationwide.Laurel attended high school at San Diego's School of Creative and Performing Arts, which allowed her to study music, art, and drama concurrently. Afterwards, Laurel attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and then California State University, Los Angeles, where she graduated with honors in Broadcast Communication and a minor in Political Science. Laurel then attended graduate school in Chicago, earning an MFA in film with an emphasis on directing from Columbia College. Laurel shot Clay in Chicago.After graduate school, Laurel moved back to Los Angeles where she completed post-production on Clay. Since then Laurel has produced and directed several featurettes for many high profile DVD releases, a documentary of an American band touring Germany, several music videos, and a number of spoof commercials for Bee Movie Films. One of these commercials, Fred Mertz Jeans, was screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Recently, Laurel has finished writing, producing and directing 4 new featurettes for Fox Studios' pending release of Robocop. As of 2012, Laurel is working as a free-lance producer and director both in LA and London, where she now resides Show less «