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George LaVoo (Producer/Co-Screenwriter)
In a display of confidence nourished by his sturdy indie roots, George LaVoo optioned REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES the day after he saw the play in 1998. "Alerted by my attorney, Jodi Peikoff, I flew from New York to L.A. and drove due east on Sunset Boulevard, to an unfamiliar part of the city," he recalls. "At the theatre, I sat on folding chairs with a mostly-Latino audience and got caught up in those women's lives just like they did."
The play had unexpected resonance for LaVoo, who identified with a key issue - appearance. Slender today, he remembers being an overweight child. "I went through high school understanding what that prejudice is all about."
LaVoo met the play's author, Josefina Lopez, the following day. Over the coming months, they collaborated to transform her one-set, 5-woman play into a vehicle for the screen. When HBO got involved, things moved quickly. When REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, the audience went wild, giving it the Dramatic Audience Award as well as a Special Acting Prize for its co-stars, Lupe Ontiveros and America Ferrera.
The film went on to open the prestigious New Director/New Films series at New York's Museum of Modern Art and was subsequently selected by the Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals. LaVoo and Lopez shared the coveted 2002 Humanitas Prize for their screenplay.
A former acquisitions executive with Fine Line Features, LaVoo has also produced "Tarantella," directed by video artist Helen DeMichiel, starring Mira Sorvino and Matthew Lillard (for ITVS/PBS); "Getting To Know You," directed by Lisanne Skyler, based on stories by Joyce Carol Oates, and "Frisk," starring Parker Posey which he also adapted from Denis Cooper's novel.
Unsurprisingly, George LaVoo was named one of Variety's "10 Producers to Watch" at Cannes 2002.
Born in South Dakota, George LaVoo came to New York City to study filmmaking at New York University. After graduation, he wrote screenplays in the early mornings and took paying jobs ranging from post-production work at DuArt Video to booking and marketing films for Cinecom.
Moving on to Fine Line Features, he championed Gus van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho," Jane Campion's "An Angel At My Table," and Robert Altman's "The Player," among other pictures.
LaVoo also directed, wrote and produced "By Reason of Insanity," a docu-drama for Court TV and is currently in development to write and direct "The Kid," based on Dan Savage's book, for HBO Films.
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