ALUMNAE SPOTLIGHT
Lauren Kilbride '14 Connects the Dots Between Laurel Experience and Career with Mattel By Sarah Hibshman Miller '98
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auren Kilbride ‘14 has been a Coordinator with Mattel Films, the film production division of Mattel, since early 2022 and was fortunate enough to have an inside look at the recent production of The Barbie Movie. “When I joined Mattel The Barbie Movie was already in post production, which is the editing phase,” she recalled. “I remember sitting at my desk reading the script and just sobbing. It was such an interesting take. For me, thematically, it's about how in a vacuum— in Barbie world—she is perfect, she can do anything, have any job, have great friends, anything is possible in Barbie World. It’s only when Barbie comes to our world where she becomes less perfect. In a revolutionary world Barbie can reclaim herself.” Lauren attended Laurel for Upper School. She didn’t anticipate coming to a school like Laurel but fell in love with it on her first visit. She recalled feeling like Laurel was a place where she could do anything she set her mind to. Anything was possible for a Laurel Girl. “I do not think I would be in Los Angeles if not for Laurel. I owe so much of where I am now to the opportunities that Laurel made me see that I have. The abilities I have, what was available to me, and all of the opportunities I could harness,” she said.
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LaurelSchool.org
After graduating from Laurel, Lauren attended film school at the University of Southern California. She studied in the screen writing program and graduated in 2019, immediately going to work at an agency that managed writers and directors. From there Lauren started working in TV writer’s rooms where she had the opportunity to work on shows like Law and Order: Organized Crime and The L Word: Generation Q. Despite her love of the TV writing world, Lauren heard of an opportunity working for Mattel's growing Films Division and decided to explore it. It turned out to be a great fit. The Barbie Movie was the first film to be produced by the Division. “Greta Gerwig is someone I am a huge fan of but I wasn’t sure what a Greta Gerwig Barbie movie would be like,” she recalled. “I was so impressed with Mattel's handling of their intellectual property or IP (toys, games, etc.), including Barbie, their largest property. Other companies often handle their IP materials to make money but Mattel seemed to deeply care about making the movie deep and interesting, and tying IP into that mission,” she continued. As a Coordinator, one of Lauren’s roles is to review Mattel’s giant catalog of IP and help determine if anything might make for another great movie. Think “Hot Wheels” and “Polly Pocket” as some of the next big ideas. As for The Barbie Movie, Lauren definitely sees how the movie and its themes have shaped, and will continue to shape, the future for women. “As far as what Greta Gerwig did with the theme—patriarchy and girlhood—and infuse that into this doll or toy and think about it in an interesting way that speaks to women and really the population as a whole, it is definitely going to help change the course of history, movies, and even toys,” said Lauren.
