Today we’d like to introduce you to Warren Elgort
Hi Warren, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
It all started in high school when I desperately wanted to make a film. I made home movies before but never anything substantial. I was reading, Making Movies, and in it Sydney Lumet stresses the best way to learn is by actually making a film. So in my last semester of senior year I was given permission to drop Spanish (I was hopeless anyway), and received credit for making a film instead. It was called Triple Threat, documenting my middle school brother hone his crafts: acting, dancing and singing.
After high school I attended Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. I majored in writing but the film department was a second home for me. The teachers there were real working writers and filmmakers some of the coolest people you might come across on a historic campus — proof you could choose to be an artist and really make it work. I already knew from my parents that you can make a wonderful life as an artist but I never knew I wanted to do that until my time at Hopkins.
After college I worked as a 2nd AC and DIT on an indie film in Rio Vista California and loved interacting with so many people and being on set. I did some work as a 1st AC but then shifted fully to directing. I recently graduated with and MFA in Film and Television Production at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. In 2023 my short thesis film Arthur Elgort: A Family Affair, screened at Azzedine Alaïa foundation in Paris as part of the six month exhibition — Azzedine Alaïa, Arthur Elgort: Freedom. I’m currently working on turning that film into a feature length documentary.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest part is making something even when there is no formal assignment. I feel success requires actively performing your designated skill just about every day and all the time. But when you aren’t getting paid to do it that becomes tricky. So you’ve got to find ways to make money on the side or be frugal or something.
I struggle everyday I’m not actively in production. And since most of directing is preparation and aftermath of production, that can spell some major low points. On the other hand, after a day on set I feel useful and good.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in documentary film directing and photography. In 2015 Town & Country Magazine tapped me to direct celebrity interviews. Since then I have directed shorts for brands including: Omega, Kodak, Forever 21, Town & Country Magazine, Vice, Patou, Oscar de la Renta, Glass Magazine, Paper Magazine, Flaunt Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Universal Music Group, Bergdorf Goodman, Chalayan, Line TV, and The Sunday Times Style.
I’m most proud of the documentary thesis I directed, Arthur Elgort: A Family Affair.
I feel my confidence in natural light and connecting with a subject sets me apart. Also my backhand return and first volley…Wait no, that’s tennis…
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I would recommend working for someone great at what you want to do so you can earn while you learn. If I could go back in time I would have joined the union the first chance I had and worked my way up in the camera department. That way you’re really working towards something concrete.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.warrenelgort.com
- Instagram: @warrenelgort
Image Credits
The black and white photo of me is by my dad Arthur Elgort.
