Richard A. Lasser

Librettist Lyricist Playwright

I am a produced playwright and an award-winning, professional screenwriter-for-hire.  My full length play, The Impeachment Trial of George W. Bush premiered in San Francisco and was later produced for public television in Washington.  I just completed the full length drama, Happy Flowers for a Chicago producer.  And I was recently hired on the Dramatists Guild job board to pen the libretto for a composer.
I have written four produced feature films, the most recent being Walking With the Enemy (starring Academy Award Winning Best Actor Ben Kingsley).  Prior to that, my feature film script The Tricks of Love, won Best Picture at the Monaco International Film Festival and 3 major acting awards, including Best Supporting for Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black).
26 different producers, theater companies and production companies have hired me to write, rewrite or polish their feature-length scripts.

Highlights

IMDB Pro Profile: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1103773/

Produced Plays
The Impeachment Trial of George W. Bush, San Francisco, May 2008.
Unproduced Plays
Bald
Chuck Thaws Out
Happy Flowers

Produced Film Credits:
1. The Chosen Few, feature-length psychological thriller, produced by I VU Pictures. Writer and Co-Producer
2. The Counting House, feature-length psychological horror, produced by RAI Cinema, Italy.  Writer.  A writer-for-hire project.
3. The Tricks of Love, a feature-length romantic comedy by Mutressa Movies. www.mutressamovies.com
4. The Obedient Son, short, war drama, Liberty Studios.
5. I Scream, short, dark comedy.  Late Bloomer Films.  Writer and Director. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOYj-NUo-R8
6. Walking With the Enemy, writer, Liberty Studios
7. The Shift of the Ages, writer, PQubd Films

In Pre-Production
Mondo Motion Pictures shooting Made in France a bittersweet love story.  shooting in Paris. 2019,  Writer
Scripts Currently Optioned:
1.    Peacocks, optioned by Beautiful Calf Productions
2.   The Cellist, optioned by Great Falls Moving Pictures

Awards:
1. The Tricks of Love, Best Picture, Monaco International Film Festival, 2008
2. The Chosen Few, Award of Excellence-Feature Category, Berkeley Film Festival, 2002; Official Selection Vancouver Island Film Festival, 2002
3. Chesterfield Writers Awards – Semi-Finalist
4. New Century Writers Awards – Finalist for “Young Love”
5. Bedroom City, Official Selection for IFP Market 2006, No Borders Section.
Education, Training and Background:
B.A. University of Virginia, Double Major in English Honors and Russian Language and Literature
Postgraduate work, UCLA, Russian Studies
Robert McKee’s Story Structure graduate
John Truby’s Screenwriting graduate
Author of two books, (Great Vegetables From the Great Chefs and Great Desserts From the Great Chefs,  for Chronicle Books. (under the pseudonym Baba S. Khalsa), numerous articles for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Food and Wine Magazine