Born and raised in Hawai’i, Lauren Kawana currently works in the San Francisco Bay Area as an independent documentary director, producer, camera operator and editor. She has worked on doc shorts, series, and feature films such as Try Harder! directed by Debbie Lum; FREE: The Power of Performance directed by Suzanne LaFetra and David Collier, and Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw directed by Rick Goldsmith.
Lauren received her master’s degree in documentary film at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she produced and directed her first documentary short, Live, Breathe, Hula. Before moving to California, she served as managing editor for Element Media, a Honolulu-based publishing firm which produces Pacific Edge and Las Vegas Bound magazines. Lauren was inspired to pursue a career in documentary film after having the privilege to work on the award-winning film Ahead of the Majority: The Life and Times of Patsy Mink, a documentary written, directed and produced by Kimberlee Bassford of Making Waves Films.
Lauren is passionate about diversity in media. She formerly served on the board of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. Lauren is also a member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), and the Documentary Producers Alliance.
Lauren’s experience includes:
Directing
Producing & field producing
Production, location & media management
Camera operating
Editing & assistant editing
Reporting & research
Archival research & licensing
Community outreach & distribution
Event planning & production
Lauren Kawana 