Don Laventhall

Affiliated Film Agent

Don handles dramatic (i.e., film, tv, theater, and documentary) rights. He does not accept unsolicited queries and works only with our agency’s clients.

After graduating from Brown University, Don Laventhall began working in the film business as a production assistant on director/producer Alan J. Pakula's film, SOPHIE'S CHOICE. The relationship with Pakula Productions continued for many years, with Don becoming the Executive Vice President in charge of development and production. Don was also a producer on Alan Pakula's last two films – THE PELICAN BRIEF with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, and THE DEVIL'S OWN with Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford.

Following Pakula’s death, Don relocated to Los Angeles, where he became the Executive Vice President of Production at Sony-based Red Wagon Entertainment, overseeing the development and production of STUART LITTLE, GIRL INTERRUPTED, THE HOLLOW MAN, and GLADIATOR. Back in New York, he adapted Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book NO ORDINARY TIME.

For over a decade, Don has headed the film rights department at Harold Ober Associates, representing a long list of authors and estates, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, Langston Hughes, Ira Levin, James M. Cain, Tamora Pierce, and Lois Lowry. Recent productions based on book-to-film deals include Sara Gruen’s WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, Langston Hughes' BLACK NATIVITY, an NBC mini-series based on Ira Levin's ROSEMARY'S BABY, Lois Lowry's THE GIVER, and an 8-part TV series on Amazon based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE LAST TYCOON. Two feature films are currently in post-production – THE WAR WITH GRANDPA by Robert Kimmel Smith starring Robert De Niro, and an animated adaptation of Lois Lowry’s THE WILLOUGHBYS.

Don teaches screenwriting at Fordham University’s MFA program, and at the Einhorn School of Performing Arts.