about 

BIO
Laurie has over 20 years in the film and visual effects industry but has been a creative person her entire life. She was drawing and painting as soon as she could hold a pencil and brush and making up stories even before.

She started her career in Hollywood after attending Vancouver Film School and worked on films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Notebook, and The Amazing Spiderman. She has worked for a number of large studios as well as small boutique studios.

Currently, she owns Deacon Finn Films and VFX in Austin, TX where she specializes in editing, post production, VFX and VFX consulting for independent and low budget films.  She is co-author of "Visual Effects for Indie Filmmakers" and is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter as well.  A long standing member of the Visual Effects Society, she was a founding board member of the Texas section of VES, and currently is a mentor and committee member with Women in Film TV Austin, and a member of the Dramatists Guild.  

She holds and MA in playwriting and an MFA in screenwriting from Wilkes University and is a published playwright and an award-winning screenwriter who has worked as a producer's assistant and as a screenplay judge for several competitions including the Austin Film Festival. 

In addition to working in a number of capacities on others' projects, she is an award winning filmmaker in her own right, having made several of her own short films, which have won numerous awards at festivals around the country and world.  "The Importance of Sex Education" is available through Amazon Prime Video.

Roles I Can Fill

VFX Supervisor
Compositing Supervisor
Compositor
VFX Producer
Coordinator
Post Production Consultant
Post Production Coordinator
Editor
​Color
Director
Assist. Director
Producer
Associate Producer
Art Dept.
Costuming (also Seamstress)
Screenwriter
Screenplay Editor
Screenplay Consultant
Playwright
Actress (stage and film)
​Casting Assistant
Event Coordinator/Set up
Speaker
Instructor
​Mentor
Graphic Designer
I've even done on set Sound/Boom Op.

Film Awards

Wildcat/ 2024
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Winner Best Texas Director, Austin Revolution 2025
Winner Best Genre short, Austin Revolution 2025
Winner Female Filmmaker Award, Utah International Film Fest 2025
Winner, Best VFX, Ethereal Horror Ressurection 2025
Winner Best Costume Design (short) Prison City 2025
Winner Best VFX (short) Prison CIty 2025
Nominated Best Director  and Best Editing (short) Prison City 2025
Nominated Best Cinematography, Chicago Horror Festival 2025

The Importance of Sex Education / 2016

Audience Award, WIFT Austin Showcase, 2023
Best Comedy Short Adirondack Film Festival 2018
Best Produced Script Austin Revolution Film Festival 2018
Best Director  Meters International Film Festival, 2018
Best Story Mountain of Laughs Comedy Festival 2018
Best Southern States Film  Southern States Indie Fan Film Fest 2017
Best Comedy Film  Southern States Indie Fan Film Fest 2017
Best Director, English Language, Southern States Indie Fan Film Fest 2017
Best Homegrown Lake Charles Film Festival 2017
Best Texas Film Hill Country Film Festival 2017
3rd Place Short Film Tupelo Film Festival 2017
Top 20 Film  Louisiana Film Prize 2016
Finding Olivia/ 2021
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Best Actress (for Brenda Hattingh) Bevery Hills Art House 2022

Screenplay Awards

Lou and the Rougarou

Winner Best Horror Comedy Screenplay
Austin After Dark 2022
Finalist
Austin Revolution Film Festival, 2021
Quarter Finalist
Boston Horror Comedy Film Festival, 2022
Quarter Finalist
Filmquest, 2022
Finalist
13Horror.com, 2022
Finalist
San Angelo Revolution Film Festival, 2022
Finalist
Lake Charles Film Festival, 2021

Sabine

Winner Best Dramedy Screenplay
Austin Revolution Film Festival, 2018
Winner Best Feature Screenplay
Hill Country Film Festival, 2018
Winner Best Feature Screenplay
Austin Spotlight Film Festival, 2019
Finalist
Pasadena International Film Festival, 2020
Semifinalist
San Antonio Film Festival, 2020
Finalist, Nominated for Best Screenplay and Best "Awareness" Screenplay
Ft. Worth Indie Film Showcase, 2020
2nd Rounder
Austin Film Festival, 2018
Semifinalist
The Monthly Film Festival Aug/Sept, 2019

Who I Am Now

Winner Best Screenplay
Boomtown Film Festival 2023
Best Drama Screenplay
Film Crash, 2015
2nd Place, Drama
Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, 2016
2nd rounder
Austin Screenplay Competition 2016
Quarter-finalist
Screencraft Comedy Feature Screenplay Competition, 2014
Finalist
Austin Under The Stars 2021
Winner, Best Screenplay 
San Angelo Revolution FF 2021

Spirit Medium

Screenplay Version
Semi-Finalist
Page International Screenwriting Awards, 2018

Stageplay Version
Winner 
Best Stage Play, Pasadena International Film Festival 2025

Get in Touch