Edward Lavelle

Ed Lavelle is a producer and writer whose career spans more than two decades of television production, development, scripted storytelling and production leadership. At Dodge College, he also serves as the school’s chair of production.

Raised in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Lavelle spent the first 10 years of his life living above the legendary Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach, Delaware, surrounded by music, performers and his rock ’n’ roll family. The iconic venue celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2026 and was recognized that same year by USA TODAY as one of its Bars of the Year. It was an unconventional childhood — and an early introduction to the colorful characters, controlled chaos, and storytelling that would eventually shape his career.

After graduating from the University of Delaware’s School of Business, Lavelle moved to New York City, where he managed the private celebrity nightclub The Grolier Mansion, before heading west to pursue acting. His growing interest in producing eventually led him to the American Film Institute, where he produced several award-winning short films and earned an MFA in Producing in 2002.

Lavelle went on to work as a production manager and line producer on network series including Big Brother, Homeland Security USA, America’s Next Top Model and TheApprentice. He later helped build three production companies from the ground up, serving as executive in charge of production and executive producer. In the following decade, he developed, pitched and produced projects for networks including Bravo, Lifetime, National Geographic, A&E, HGTV, Syfy, MTV and Animal Planet. His focus eventually turned back to scripted storytelling. He created, sold and produced a 10-episode digital comedy series for TBS and wrote and published The Chip, a science-fiction adventure trilogy he has since developed for television. Represented by an agent, the project is currently being taken to market as Lavelle and his producing partners seek the right production partner and network or streaming home for the series.

Lavelle’s producing partner, Alexandra Rose (Norma Rae, Overboard, Frankie and Johnny) was one of his professors at AFI. The two reconnected at Chapman years later, turning a relationship that began in the classroom into a creative partnership.

He is developing Bottle & Cork, a television series inspired by his own family story. In the late 1960s, his parents were part of the family group that purchased what was then a local tavern and began transforming it into a rock ’n’ roll bar — learning the business, sometimes by trial and error, as they went. Their unlikely path to success, the family dynamics behind it, and the musicians, employees, locals, tourists and larger-than life characters who passed through the bar provide the foundation for the series.

Lavelle began teaching at Dodge College in 2018 and has also taught at California State University, Northridge. Drawing on decades of hands-on entertainment-industry experience, he brings the realities of professional production directly into the classroom. At the center of his teaching is a principle that has shaped his own career: great producing requires more than knowing how to make something. It requires knowing how to collaborate, lead, solve problems — and turn an idea into something real.