Lauren Eve Montgomery (born May 4, 1980) is an American storyboard artist, television director, film director, character designer, film producer, television producer, and television writer.World's Finest
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Early life

Lauren Montgomery became interested in drawing as a youngster and developed an interest in animation.Wonder Woman Interview
Retrieved 15 December 2008 In 1998 she enrolled in the animation program at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

's School of Film and Television where she graduated in 2002.Linkedin
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Career

Animation

Storyboards

Montgomery got her start on the ''

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show, often referred to as simply ''He-Man'', was one of the most popular anim ...

'' animated by Mike Young Productions. Montgomery has done storyboards for

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

' such as ''

Ben 10 ''Ben 10'' is an American media franchise created by Man of Action Studios, produced by Cartoon Network Studios and owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The series centers on a boy named Ben Tennyson who acquires the Omnitrix, an alien device resem ...

'' from

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operating ...

as well as storyboard work for the television series ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics univers ...

'', for which producer

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subseque ...

praised her work as being quite versatile. Montgomery has also done storyboard work for the second DC Universe film production, '' Justice League: The New Frontier'', based on the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are List of Eisner Award winners, prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Acad ...

-winning

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

Darwyn Cooke Darwyn Cooke (November 16, 1962 – May 14, 2016) was a Canadian comics artist, writer, cartoonist, and animator who worked on the comic books ''Catwoman'', '' DC: The New Frontier'', '' The Spirit'' and '' Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter'' ...

, '' DC: The New Frontier''. She also worked on the '' Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow'' and ''

Hulk Vs ''Marvel Animated Features'' (''MAF'') is a series of the first eight direct-to-video animated superhero films made by MLG Productions, a joint venture between Marvel Studios (later Marvel Animation) and Lions Gate Entertainment. History In ...

'' animated features,

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

properties by

Lions Gate Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

. Moreover, she worked on the G.I. Joe features for Reel FX Creative Studios and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. She has also worked on the Emmy-winning series ''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...

'' for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

Directing

Montgomery made her directorial debut by directing several episodes of the ''

Legion of Super Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st cen ...

'' series, and was one of the three directors for the

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

feature film '' Superman: Doomsday'', directing the second act of the movie. In March, 2008, it was announced that she is the director for the direct-to-video ''Wonder Woman'' film from Warner Premiere. The animated feature was released on March 3, 2009. Furthermore, she is the director of '' Green Lantern: First Flight'', which was released on July 28, 2009. Subsequently, Montgomery co-directed Batman: Year One and '' Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths'' (with

Sam Liu Sam Liu is an American animation producer, director, storyboard artist and character designer. He is best known for directing animated superhero films at both Marvel Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. Sam attended the University of Califor ...

) and directed '' Superman/Batman: Apocalypse''. She is set to direct a film based on ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' for

Producing

Montgomery served as a supervising producer on Nickelodeon's ''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as TLOK), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or simply ''Korra'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelode ...

'', created by

Bryan Konietzko Bryan Konietzko is an American animator, writer, producer and musician. He is best known, together with Michael Dante DiMartino, as the co-creator and executive producer of the animated series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...

and

Michael Dante DiMartino Michael Dante DiMartino (born July 18, 1974) is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...

. Previously, she provided storyboard work on Book 3 for the original series ''

'', also a Konietzko/DiMartino collaboration. After Voltron finished she worked as a supervising producer on ''

Santiago of the Seas ''Santiago of the Seas'' is an American computer-animated children's television series created by Niki Lopez, Leslie Valdes, and Valerie Walsh Valdes that premiered on Nickelodeon on October 9, 2020. The series features the voices of Kevin Chacon ...

''.

Illustration

Montgomery has released a sketchbook with comic book/animation artist Eric Canete entitled ''Beauty and the Beast'' published by Black Velvet Studios. She has also done various freelance illustration work such as illustrating a cover for ''Nickelodeon Magazine'' and a press release illustration for the ''Avatar'' series.http://notthepornstar.deviantart.com/art/Day-of-Black-Sun-Press-Art-72027790 Retrieved 15 December 2008

Style

According to Montgomery, "I was definitely influenced by the Disney films. Those were the drawings I was tracing and sketching during my early years. I would study each and every one of the princesses and draw them until I had them all down by heart. My facial features are still influenced somewhat by Disney characters. As I got older, I was definitely influenced by Bruce's style in Batman (referring to

and '' Batman: The Animated Series''), and I started getting into anime, and some of the more subtle styles in anime drawing. The clothing is a little more detailed than the typical American animation – it's more believable, yet still simplified. It's the way they draw bodies and cloth that I kind of incorporate into my drawings, as well as certain aspects of how they would draw hair. So I'd say I have a few different influences in my art style."