Literary Arts

Laura Colella has written and directed three feature films: Tax Day, Stay Until Tomorrow, and most recently, Breakfast with Curtis, winner of a 2013 Independent Spirit Award. Her numerous shorts include Chryskylodon Blues, filmed behind-the-scenes on the set of Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature Inherent Vice, and experimental narratives Statuary and The Flying Electric. Her films have screened at well over 100 festivals internationally, winning over 25 awards. Her three features have been released on Netflix, Fandor and other online platforms. Tax Day and Stay Until Tomorrow were released on DVD by Passion River Films, and Breakfast with Curtis was released theatrically by Abramorama and Bond 360. She is represented by United Talent Agency.  

Laura began making 16MM films as an undergraduate at Harvard, where she studied with filmmakers Raul Ruiz and Miklos Jansco, who sparked her interests in unconventional narrative and visual storytelling. She has been a Sundance Directing and Screenwriting Fellow, a Film Independent Fellow, a Bogliasco Fellow, and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces in Independent Film. She taught 16MM film production and directing at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1997-2014, and served as Founding Faculty Chair for the MFA in Film program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She wrote plays while earning an MFA in Writing for Performance at Brown, and has been a longtime collaborator on touring multimedia productions with the Everett Company.