Edward Lavelle

Raised in Rehoboth Beach, a small, resort town in Delaware, Ed spent the first ten years of his life living on top of the famous, rock ‘n roll bar, The Bottle & Cork, with his rock n’ roll family.

Upon graduating from the University of Delaware school of business, he moved to the Big Apple where he managed the private, celebrity, nightclub, the Grolier Mansion, before making his way to the West Coast to pursue acting. After several years of acting, Ed began producing, to ensure that he would be cast in theater & television projects. Understanding the importance of producing, Ed applied to the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI) - and was accepted into the MFA Producing program. He graduated in 2002 with a number of short, award-winning films.

In the first six years of his producing career, Ed worked his way up through the ranks - Production Managing to Line Producing for network television (ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX) on shows such as Big Brother, Homeland Security USA, America's Next Top Model and The Apprentice. With a strong foundation of hands-on, experience accrued through these productions, Ed was tapped to create three different production companies from the ground up – working as Executive in Charge of Productions and Executive Producer.  For nearly a decade, he helped develop, pitch & produce numerous television projects (The Numbers Game, On the Road with Austin and Santino, Million Dollar Decorators, The Short Game, Project Accessory, etc.) for cable networks such as Bravo, Lifetime, National Geographic, A&E, HGTV, Syfy, MTV, Animal Planet, etc.; sometimes partnering with companies including Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Weinstein Company, and Scott Free Productions.

Ed stepped away from unscripted programming, and returned his focus to his original calling, scripted storytelling. He created/sold/produced a ten-episode, digital, comedy series for TBS, has recently completed a third novel for his sci-fi, adventure book series, The Chip, and is developing a number of feature film projects (three of which are currently casting).

In 2018, Ed was invited to explore what became a career changing opportunity – teaching at Chapman University. This opportunity expanded to teaching at California State University, Northridge, as well.  Ed particularly enjoys mentoring students at Chapman and has recently been hired as a full-time Artistic Assistant Professor, as well as functioning as Chair of Film Production.

Students benefit from Ed sharing his varied life experience and knowledge of the entertainment business in class, which helps future Film & Television Producers understand the importance of implementing professional production knowledge, collaboration skills, and leadership strength to every project.