Laren Poole, a San Diego native, traveled to Uganda with Jason Russell and Bobby Bailey in 2003 for a filmmaking adventure, and returned with an unshakable ambition to expose the crisis and pursue a peaceful resolution to the 23-year-long conflict. Since then, Invisible Children has shared the story of those invisible children abducted by rebel leader Joseph Kony and forced to fight in his army with millions. Their international awareness events have rallied more than 250,000 youth activists to raise the profile of this issue, garnering the attention of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, CNN International, MTV, E! News and The Huffington Post amongst numerous other media outlets.

As co-founder and filmmaker, Laren oversees the production of Invisible Children’s creative media, web and print campaigns that fuse advocacy, development and youth culture to transform apathy into activism and end Africa’s longest-running war. He is also responsible for filming, producing, and editing the Feature Film.

Prior to creating the Rough Cut documentary, Laren studied Structural Engineering at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and lent his design expertise to Jedidiah Clothing Company. Poole is a recipient of the University of California Irvine (UCI) Human Security Award (2008), the Heartland Film Festival Pioneering Spirit Award (2007) and a Webby for Creative Activism (2007). In his so-called spare time, he is planning a wedding with his lovely fiancée, Courtney.

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