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Screenwriter & Journalist

Here are the highlights: I witnessed the moment they Freed Britney for The New York Times; I wrote Peabody Award-winning dick jokes for American Vandal on Netflix; I bravely appeared alongside literal beauty queens in The New York Times Presents: How to Fix a Pageant on FX. 

I'm a screenwriter and journalist working in TV, news, and documentary. Maybe you saw my gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby trials for the Times. I wrote and produced an original half hour comedy, Camp Friends for HBOmax. I am developing a TV adaptation of The New York Times bestseller,The Dinosaur Artist for Made up Stories/Fifth Season. I wrote on Netflix's Peabody award-winning series, American Vandal and USA's Suits spinoff, Pearson. I produced and appeared in the Emmy award-nominated The New York Times Presents: The Legacy of J Dilla, and the Gracie award-winning How to Fix a Pageant. I'll try anything. 

I know story, AMA

Email: Lauren.herstik@gmail.com

The New York Times •

Where the Ferris Wheel Is by Basquiat and the Carousel by Keith Haring

The lights dimmed and a Ferris wheel designed by Jean-Michel Basquiat began turning in time to “Tutu,” by Miles Davis.“It’s like it’s drawn on a sheet of paper,” said Ajani Purnell, 26, an executive assistant to the artist Shepard Fairey, who joined the crowds at a warehouse complex in Los Angeles to gawk at — but not ride — the attractions at the revival of Luna Luna, a long-lost art amusement park that was created in 1987.
The New York Times •

Inside the Harvey Weinstein Rape Trial in Los Angeles (Published 2022)

Every day last week during the beginning of Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial, jurors, lawyers and spectators spilled out of elevators and onto the ninth floor of the hulking Clara Shortridge Foltz courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.Reporters and influencers slid into the back row of the gallery of Room 110 — among us were a true crime podcaster and a TikToker looking for an angle her followers would like.More than two years after he was convicted of rape and criminal sexual assault in New York, Wei...
The New York Times •

Defending R. Kelly and Bill Cosby, the Same Combative Lawyer

Jennifer Bonjean, a defense lawyer who has the words “not guilty” tattooed on her right arm, called one woman who accused R. Kelly of sexual abuse a “pathological liar.” She accused another of extortion. She tried to pick their accounts apart, and attacked prosecutors for stripping her client, the former R&B star, of “every single bit of humanity that he has.”Ms. Bonjean, who was Mr. Kelly’s lead lawyer during the criminal trial in Chicago that ended with his conviction last week, has become kno...
The New York Times •

At Britney Spears’s Hearing, This Twitter Feed Scooped the World

LOS ANGELES — More than 50 members of the media took their seats Wednesday afternoon in Courtroom 217 of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse here, all agreeing to abide by restrictions set by the court to govern a highly anticipated hearing regarding the conservatorship that controls Britney Spears’s life.No laptops in the courtroom. No phones visible during the proceedings. No attempts in real time to communicate with others outside the courtroom. Violators would be swiftly ejected.For those anxious to...
The New York Times •

‘This is what Britney has wanted for 13 years.’ Her supporters cheered the ruling.

The crowd of Britney Spears supporters seemed to be holding its breath as one in the moments before the news broke that James P. Spears had been suspended as her conservator after 13 years.Robert Bordelon, 25, of Los Angeles was the first to tell the crowd the decision had been made, before instantly falling to his knees, sobbing.“They thought we were crazy,” he said through tears. “They thought she was crazy.”The crowd erupted, jumping and cheering. Many fans embraced, seeing it as vindication...