Lava Alapai

I tell stories about messy people. The kind of people who make bad decisions, who struggle to be
better but don’t always succeed, and who manage to be both wildly inappropriate and
heartbreakingly sincere in the same breath. I like to take these flawed, fascinating humans and
drop them into heightened worlds—be it a progressive boarding school in Ojai (Happy Valley) or
a dysfunctional grift-happy family (Slimm Family Values)—because, let’s be honest, life is
already ridiculous. Why not lean in?
Born in Okinawa, raised in Honolulu, and seasoned in Portland, I bring a cross-cultural lens to
my work, blending biting humor with unexpected vulnerability. I started as an actor and
puppeteer (yes, really) and eventually found my sweet spot as a writer/director/playwright who
thrives on character-driven, emotionally chaotic storytelling. Whether it’s for television, theatre,
or film, my work is about people on the verge—of greatness, of disaster, or, quite often, both at
the same time.
I write because I love contradictions: the moments when we laugh at things we shouldn’t, when
absurdity and truth collide, when a story can be both grounded and fantastical, both painfully real
and utterly ridiculous. My job, as I see it, is to craft narratives that surprise, challenge, and
maybe even make people snort-laugh at inconvenient times.