Draft:Laura Barbato

• Comment: Needs more references. -Samoht27 (talk) 19:22, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

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Laura Barbato
Born	(1993-12-01) December 1, 1993 New Jersey
Citizenship	American
Education	New York Film Academy (AS)
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter, producer, retired New York City police sergeant

Laura "LA" Barbato (born December 01, 1983) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and retired New York City police sergeant and undercover officer. She is the founder and owner of Twelve 83 Entertainment.

Early life and education

Barbato was born in New Jersey as the youngest of three children. Her mother, Joanne Barbato, was a registered nurse, and her father, Stephen Barbato Sr., worked as an auto mechanic. She has an older sister, Nicole Barbato-Connolly, and an older brother, Stephen Barbato Jr.

At the age of fourteen, Barbato began her career as a beatmaker and DJ. She later founded Twelve 83 Records, producing music and music videos for local artists. After retiring from the NYPD, she pursued further education in film, graduating with a degree in screenwriting from the New York Film Academy.

Career

Police career

Barbato moved to New York City and was sworn in as a police officer for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 2007. She worked as an undercover officer in the Bronx Narcotics Division and later became the anti-crime sergeant in the 46th precinct before transferring to the Bronx Homicide Task Force. Barbato was retired as the executive officer of the 46th precinct detective squad. Throughout her career, she received several awards for her service.

While on track for a lieutenant promotion, Barbato was seriously injured in a duty-related accident when she was struck and pinned against a cement wall while pursuing an armed suspect wanted for attempted murder. After multiple surgeries and rehabilitation, she retired medically from the NYPD in 2019.

Film career

Following her retirement, Barbato expanded Twelve 83 Records into Twelve 83 Entertainment, producing films and videos distributed through Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV, and Tubi.

In 2019, she wrote and produced her first short film, The Man Who Sold the World, which won over twenty film awards, including "Best Thriller" at the Florence Film Awards. In 2020, she wrote, produced, and directed The Unorthodox Series, a surrealism anthology that earned ten film awards. In the same year, she created Half Pints, an animated comedy web series, during her studies at the New York Film Academy.

In 2021, she wrote and produced The States of Emergency: New York & New Jersey, a COVID-19 documentary that received several awards, including "Best Short Documentary" at the New Jersey Film Awards.

In 2022, she produced the Swedish feature film Prelude, which won "Outstanding Achievement" at the Swedish International Film Festival. She also produced the short films Waking Up and Last Meal, which were distributed by Amazon Prime Video. In addition, Barbato produced the Nigerian short film Jujuman.

In 2024, Barbato returned to horror, executive producing El Hombre Sin Rostro, a Mexican horror film. She also executive produced Bloodline Killer, a Tubi original film starring Shawnee Smith, Bruce Dern, Tyrese Gibson, and Taryn Manning, which ranked among the top ten most-streamed original films during its premiere weekend.

Other work

Barbato is the writer and creator of Charlie X, a police-drama crime comic book series based on her experiences as an undercover narcotics officer and sergeant. The series is illustrated by Bachan Carrillo of DC Comics. She is also a member of the Writers Guild of America.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
2025	Sound of the Somme	Executive producer	Short film
2024	Bloodline Killer	Executive Producer, Producer	Tubi Original
2024	Jujuman	Executive Producer	Short film
2024	Dear Luke, Love Me	Executive Producer	Completed
2024	Sitra Achra	Producer	Post-production
2022	Prelude	Producer	Swedish feature film
2022	Waking Up	Producer	Short film, distributed by Amazon Prime Video
2021	Orenda	Writer, Producer, Editor	Short film
2021	The States of Emergency: New York & New Jersey	Writer, Producer, Editor	Short documentary
2020	The Unorthodox Series: Castles in the Sky + As You Are	Writer, Producer, Editor	TV Series
2019	The Unorthodox Series - Castles in the Sky	Writer, Producer, Editor	TV Short
2019	The Man Who Sold the World	Writer, Producer, Editor	Short film
N/A	El Hombre Sin Rostro	Executive Producer	Short film
N/A	Half Pints	Writer, Producer, Editor	Completed TV Mini-Series
N/A	Last Meal	Executive Producer	Completed Short