Producing success: How Lauren Vilchik is shaping the film industry

Before becoming an award-winning film producer and production attorney, Lauren Vilchik practiced corporate law in her hometown of Los Angeles. When a friend studying film at UCLA vented that he couldn’t find a financial backer for his film project, she asked to see his business plan. She was met with a blank stare in response.

“That was it,” she remembers. “I knew I could help creative filmmakers learn the business side of the film business.”

Vilchik is now the assistant dean for graduate studies at the UNCSA School of Filmmaking, where she teaches producing to undergraduate and graduate students. She has become renowned for her work in the film industry, specializing in independent film finance and production. She is best known for the venerated horror hit “Cabin Fever,” a low-budget 2002 film purchased by Lionsgate in one of the largest bidding wars in the history of the Toronto Film Festival. With a budget of just $1.5 million, it grossed $22 million in the U.S. alone, and another $6 million internationally. 

Filmed in a handful of North Carolina locations, “Cabin Fever” helped earn Vilchik a producer’s award nomination from Film Independent Spirit for a body of work, which also included her first low-budget feature shot in the Piedmont Triad, “Briar Patch.” While she’s proud of the film’s financial success, she also appreciates the lessons she learned while producing it. “You can make a hit movie at any level, and nobody cares about the budget or how much it grossed at the box office,” she says. “They care if the film works, if it engages them in issues they care about. I’m here to prove it.”

And prove it she has. In 1999 she founded her own company, Los Angeles-based Tonic Films LLC. At the helm of Tonic, Vilchik produced six award-winning feature films in just three years, including  “Amy’s O” in 2001, winner of the Audience Choice Award at two festivals, including the Santa Barbara Film Fest. With a reputation as a respected, knowledgeable and successful hands-on producer, she has also been a panelist and speaker at prominent film festivals, including Cannes, SXSW, the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival, where she was a member of the prestigious Movers and Shakers panel. In 2004, Variety named her on its list of “Top Ten Producers to Watch.”

When opportunity knocks

Vilchik is quick to credit her mentor for her success: the late Susan Jackson. Jackson worked in feature film distribution for 20 years, holding executive positions at Samuel Goldwyn Company, Sony and The BBC. As executive producer for “Cabin Fever,” she also orchestrated the film’s sale to Lionsgate. Vilchik says that Jackson always believed in her, and that her expertise was critical to the success of “Cabin Fever.”

“Susan introduced me to the business side of the industry from the inside,” Vilchik says. “She taught me to remain open to learning, to be ready to invest in a project, to give of yourself.”

These are lessons and values that Vilchik brings to her role as an award-winning educator. At UNCSA, she has been a two-time recipient (2018 and 2021) of the Teaching Excellence Award, the highest honor bestowed on UNCSA’s world-class faculty members. In 2021, she also received the prestigious University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence. Approaching her 15th year at UNCSA, she teaches a “soup-to-nuts” entrepreneurial approach to working in the industry, covering processes from beginning to end. 

As their final projects, Vilchik’s students create business plans for films, ready to pitch to investors and other industry professionals. To give them the practice they need, she even brings investors to the classroom – students not only polish their pitches but can begin networking while still in school.

“When opportunity knocks you have to know how to open the door,” she explains. “I’m not teaching students how to be lawyers, I’m teaching them how to talk to lawyers. You have to know how to approach distributors and investors.”

When opportunity knocks you have to know how to open the door. I’m not teaching students how to be lawyers, I’m teaching them how to talk to lawyers.

Lauren Vilchik

In a recent teaching philosophy statement, Vilchik wrote, “In an effort to cultivate gifted learning in all my students, I have developed a four-part strategy: endeavor to inspire every student to take interest in the subject matter; break down the crutch of dependency to instill self-reflection and self-reliance; encourage risk-taking by creating a safe environment for failure; and communicate thorough assessment of a student’s work to foster high achievement.”

Unlocking local success stories

Vilchik moved from California to North Carolina in 2010, on the heels of the housing market crash of 2008 and 2009 when investors became shy about financing film productions. North Carolina offered her family a better quality of life, and she was able to continue making movies; with lucrative tax incentives, North Carolina was an attractive destination for film and television projects. At the time, Wilmington-based EUE/Screen Gems’ sound stages were producing 10 television shows and UNCSA’s top-notch filmmaking school offered faculty experts and highly skilled graduates. 

“I moved here to make movies,” Vilchik says. “North Carolina is a great place to do that. It’s beautiful, with a variety of landscapes, four seasons and favorable weather. People are friendly and happy to see you here, the logistics are good. And you have this army of students who are ready to practice their craft in the real world.”

Vilchik was already familiar with the talent of UNCSA students and the School of Filmmaking when she moved to North Carolina. “UNCSA has great institutional values, pairing an emphasis on practical learning with a foundation in liberal arts to develop critical thinking skills,” she says. Hired to teach producing to undergraduate students, she co-authored the graduate curriculum that blends entrepreneurial skills with storytelling expertise. 

In addition to teaching, Vilchik remains active in her profession. Always an advocate for the North Carolina film industry, she has produced three locally-made movies, two of which were written and directed by UNCSA School of Drama graduate Angus MacLachlan (‘80). In 2017, she provided post-production suppervision for “Abundant Acreage Available,” which was line-produced by Filmmaking alumna Jennifer Haire (‘02) with Martin Scorsese as executive producer. The film was nominated for a jury award for best U.S. narrative feature at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the jury award for best screenplay.

More recently, MacLachlan’s “A Little Prayer” premiered with great success at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, where it secured a distribution deal through Sony Pictures Classic. “It’s thrilling to work in our own backyard and community to make a film that resonates with people,” Vilchik said when the festival announced its selections. “It’s about the trials and tribulations of family, what defines parenting, and what that looks like when we’re faced with challenging decisions.”

The crew for “A Little Prayer” was predominately composed of Filmmaking students and alumni, and it features several Drama alumni in the cast. Filmmaking alumnus Abraham Bengio (‘18) — once Vilchik’s mentee in the undergraduate producing program — was the sales agent and oversaw the distribution of the film, and then-graduate student Jessica Zingher worked in distribution. “Watching Lauren and other professionals put topics we discussed in class like distribution, marketing strategy and dealmaking into action was an incredibly valuable experience,” said Zingher, who received her MFA in 2023.

Vilchik was also executive producer for “Shifting Gears” in 2018, a family film centered around dirt track racing that was produced in partnership with Alderman Company in High Point, North Carolina, under the leadership of the company's president, Jeff Williams. A host of UNCSA students, alumni and faculty were among the cast and crew.

“I’ve always had an appreciation for film locations and production offices outside of Hollywood,” Vilchik says. “Many of our students head to Los Angeles after graduating because they think they have to. They don’t. Filmmakers can have a rewarding and successful career without leaving North Carolina.”

Stepping into a bigger role

With a wealth of experience and a passion for nurturing talent, Vilchik has emerged as a key player in growing the state’s film industry. As a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Film, Television and Digital Streaming, in 2021 she collaborated to create the Film Partnership of North Carolina. The nonprofit partnership helps to build the skill set of the local and regional workforce with an emphasis on women and minorities, who are largely underrepresented in the industry.

“It is totally unique,” says Vilchik.  “As film productions come to town, we provide paid interns. We create the curriculum, we train North Carolina natives, and when they are ready we place them with projects, eventually paying their expenses and salaries.”

As film productions come to town, we provide paid interns. We create the curriculum, we train North Carolina natives, and when they are ready we place them with projects, eventually paying their expenses and salaries.

Lauren Vilchik

The School of Filmmaking is among the nonprofit’s partners. Vilchik said she and her colleagues, enthusiastically led by Dean Deborah Lavine, were thrilled to help design the film and television curriculum for high school and community college students.

“To make a film or a television show, you need adequate facilities and locations and a skilled workforce,” she says. “The partnership provides high-quality training, which will attract more projects. That hopefully will spark interest in funding for state-of-the-art production facilities and other infrastructure.” 

Vilchik is the treasurer for the Film Partnership of North Carolina, which is funded by public and private grants. She laughs and says, “I’m coming full circle, always raising money for one thing or another.”

Acknowledging key achievements

Among Vilchik’s many accomplishments, she’s particularly proud of fostering the Film Partnership, the successes of “Cabin Fever” and “A Little Prayer,” and the teaching awards she’s received, particularly the 2021 award.

“It’s always a wonderful feeling, but to be recognized for teaching during the COVID pandemic was especially gratifying. We had to keep the school going, keep the students engaged with a rigorous online education plan, be aware of students’ mental health needs, working around the clock, managing our own lives, our children’s lives,” she said. “That was the year I won the Board of Governors award. It was even more meaningful for me.”

But the full list of Vilchik’s accomplishments has yet to be written. “There is a big career highlight coming later this year, but I can’t talk about it yet,” she teases. One thing is for sure – this latest project will be worth waiting for. Meanwhile, Vilchik will continue educating and inspiring UNCSA students, collaborating with industry professionals, and strengthening the incredible film industry in North Carolina. 

by Lauren Whitaker

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