Behind the stories
About Isabel.
Meet Isabel.
Screenwriter. Author. Mentor.
From Montreal to New York, a decade in Laos and a creative life in Los Angeles. The people, places and projects behind Isabel's work.
Originally from Montreal, Isabel Dréan began her creative life in New York, studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. At 23, she founded her own theatre company.
Los Angeles came next, followed by a few years of auditions. Then she decided to travel around the world on her own.
A life in many places
From Montreal to Luang Prabang and back to Los Angeles.
- Montreal
- →
- New York
- →
- Los Angeles
- →
- Laos
- →
- Thailand
- →
- Los Angeles
Chapter one
New York, on stage.
Isabel began her creative life in New York, studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. At 23, she founded her own theatre company.
Chapter two
Ten years in Laos.
A solo journey brought Isabel to Laos, where she lived for ten years. In Luang Prabang she opened L'Etranger, a bookshop and tea room, ran a bar and a fair-trade gallery, and created the Made in Laos fashion show.
Passion project
Love Letter to Laos.
Isabel's passion project, based on her own story. When a world adventurer unexpectedly opens the first bookshop in Laos after the communist era, she befriends a local teenage boy with a deep love of books. When his family threatens to send him back to his village and jeopardize his future, she faces the dilemma of taking him under her roof and making Laos her home.
Inquire about Love Letter to LaosFun facts
Things you might not know about Isabel.
Isabel won the green card lottery.
She speaks Lao and some Thai.
She gave birth to her daughter in an abandoned resort in the countryside of northern Thailand.
Chapter three
Digital beginnings
In 2010, Isabel launched KebWebTV, the first independent streaming platform for curated short-form content, ten years before Quibi. She developed over 30 web series there. Her thrillers Let Go and Manigances came from that chapter.
Explore The Dark Side →Chapter four
Los Angeles, take two.
- 2013
Back to Los Angeles
As a single mom, Isabel couldn't be on set to direct. She turned to writing.
- The rewrite
A script from 1999
She rewrote a screenplay from 1999. It placed in the Nicholl Fellowship.
- First jobs
Thrillers and horror
The work started coming in: a few thrillers and horror projects.
- The call
Secret Santa
Things clicked when producer and director Lane Shefter Bishop called her to write Secret Santa. One script turned into five.
- 2023
The strike
During the strike, Isabel turned to teaching to help other writers break in.
- March 2025
THE HUB and verticals
She founded THE HUB, and a Canadian company approached her to write vertical series.
- Then
Five series. Four #1s.
Twelve months in verticals.
- Next
Directing
Isabel plans to return to directing, so that one day she can direct her passion project, Love Letter to Laos.