Daily Inspiration: Meet Elle B

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elle B.

Hi Elle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Looking back now, I can admire as my life feels so transformative now that I’m older. I’ve had a series of highs and lows that I’ve come to be extremely grateful for because they’ve made me who I am today.

As a creative, I began in second grade doing a book report on the incredible Maya Angelou. Her work honestly shook me and gave me the courage to pursue a career in writing against all odds. I also was inspired by her as a black woman who never was pinned down to one discipline or easily placed into any category. I was always fascinated by storytelling from playing with barbies to playing digital sim games, then eventually getting my first flip video camera at age 14 and shooting films with my sister and Godsister. I actually laugh when thinking about it because I remember my first “film”. I didn’t even know how to edit so I shot short scenes and put each one onto a Microsoft powerpoint slide, then played it back! I’ve come a long way from this (thankfully).

I was writing screenplays before I even knew what they were. I wrote books as a kid in my composition books, but a lot of times my ideas would come to me as scenes of dialogue in my head. So I’d write them down and draw from that. I spent most of my middle and high school filling the back of my planners with scripts. Instead of doodling I wrote conversations and character scenes all through my notes sections. I couldn’t even help it. I was always hovering over my notebook because I was scared if someone saw me writing dialogue they’d think I’m crazy. And in honesty my characters are pretty wild and unhinged in moments so not quite sure how that would have gone over!

I went to a Catholic High School in Florida, we had one film class that I could NEVER get into but in our theology class we’d be able to do videos as projects and I always took them super seriously. Eventually one summer my mom got me into this cool film camp called Gstar that I had to commute to on a train 2 hours there and 2 hours back every day. Shout out to my teacher Mr DeCarmine as well who always was kind enough to pick me up and bring me back to the station. I’m so thankful for all the people who really support me in many ways. At this point, it became clear this was my passion and I sought out film school for college. I wrote to the Dean at Brown university who kindly gave me a scholarship to the Brown University Film Camp and I came there meaning business because I had one shot to make a film for my school application. I was so eager that before our first class I shot a trailer for the film I wanted to do and the teachers were pretty surprised. There I eventually made a film that thankfully did get me into a great film school, NYU.

My time at NYU I created several films, but I mostly produced because I didn’t have too much cash to fund my own projects. Still, I am glad I did because it made me a strong producer and I now have the ability to produce my own projects with ease which has proved very rewarding for me. Once graduating I shot my thesis which eventually screened at the International Cannes Short film corner. I attended the festival and it changed my life. This was actually the second International film festival I attended. My first was the Berlinale Festival during college in which I learned all about film acquisitions. I watched a production company sit in meetings attempting to sell films to different people around the world during the EFM (European Film Market). These experiences opened my mind and encouraged me at the same time to push harder for my dreams.

After landing in LA, I eventually got hired at Free the Bid, the nonprofit force that is now Free The Work which works to provide opportunities and visibility for underrepresented creators. This initiative was founded by director Alma Ha’rel and our efforts created an increase of over 400% jobs for women directors in the commercial industry in a short span of a few years. Looking back, I was incredibly blessed to be apart of this family because it inspired me and gave me a sense of social responsibility as I pushed further in my career. It started as a small team of 4 people and has now become a powerhouse for progress. I am still a community representative and take part where I can. I worked under an extremely talented producer before leaving to freelance as I found it too difficult to balance my directing with my full time job there.

At the time, it was a really hard decision to make because I didn’t know what my next steps were but I knew I had to try to give myself the time to hone my craft. I’m glad I jumped because it created a path in which I was able to direct a lot more projects and gather more incredible experiences that have become invaluable to me today. Fast forward to now, I can happily say that I proved my 5th grade math tutor wrong who had told me that writers don’t make any money. In fact, since the pandemic my writing has been my main source of income and has thankfully sustained me as well as opened many doors for me. As I continue to grow my directing career I am ghost writing for directors around the world and the experience has been humbling.

This past year I learned so much about showing up for myself and also reminding myself that I must not forget who I am because people love to define you without knowing you (especially as a young black woman). It’s a dangerous trap many young artists on the rise fall into and It encouraged my own growth that eventually inspired me to raise the bar for myself as I step into the next level of my career under a new directing name of Elle B. This new journey has empowered me and brought back so much enthusiasm as I found ways to have fun on this journey again and remind myself it doesn’t have to be so serious all the time!

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?
There’s been many highs in lows that I’ve had to be a warrior to get through both career and just life-wise. I think the biggest enemy I’ve had at times is myself. I was bullied pretty badly in middle school and the aftermath left me with a really low self esteem that I had to grow out of all the way through college. I’ve also had moments in life where I’ve had pretty intense pressure that I had to fight through. My dad passed from lung cancer when I was 17 which was a really crucial year in high school because I was in the middle of applying to college and taking standardized exams. Within the same year, my mother was crazy enough also diagnosed with cancer, so I had to really hold things down for my little sister as well as keep myself focused academically so I could make it into one of my top choices. My mom survived thank God and is in remission for over 6 years. Looking back the resilience that I channelled within got me through a lot of other challenges in life, simply because I had dealt with high pressured situations before. I also feel that calmness and ability to prioritize in chaos has led me to my perseverance and success on set.

I think navigating without necessarily having too much financial support has always been tricky as well, but I honestly think it led me to become even more creative, more intentional and really explore happiness in a realistic way. I try to be a light for others when I can because I know the power of presence when someone’s going through a tough situation. We all need each other and community is everything. I’ve learned that many times over and over.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself first an artist as I dabble in different disciplines from time to time but my primary discipline is a writer /director. Most of the work I produce includes a strong, narrative with rhythmic visuals. I’d say I specialize in strong poetic visual messages and storytelling. I am still early in my journey, but I’d like to be known for powerful dialogue, deep character development, and exposing different perspectives with deep purpose.

I’m most proud of my perseverance in focusing on building my career despite challenges whether it be my own doubt, financial instability, or overwhelming events that interrupt my pursuit. It’s all taken a lot of courage and willingness to be uncomfortable. One project that I’m particularly excited for and proud of is a microbudget International Feature, Ishema, that I co-wrote and produced in Rwanda (2019), with a fellow director friend S-hekshem Ebron. This project challenged me in countless ways and it taught me so much about universal storytelling. The project is finally complete and currently in the festival circuit. It’s taken a lot to get here and I’m proud of how our hard work manifested.

I think that every artist has their own perspective and voice which automatically sets us apart, but I like to work with quirky characters that expose unexpected, honest realities of life. I am very experimental in my approach and like to consider myself open minded as I strive to maintain an informed, intentional creative space through my work.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
This will be a journey, so I think having the right attitude and expectations is the key to success. For some time, I definitely convinced myself that I could force certain wins or circumstances to happen. That pursuit was the wrong one and it took me out of alignment with myself. Authenticity is our greatest superpower. I think this path requires a lot of patience, even more faith, and surrendering to divine timing. Things will never happen exactly as we desire, so best to keep the faith and go through it all with a winning attitude and warrior mindset.

Most importantly, get to know you! You’ll be spending a lot of time together and its best you cultivate some peace within because this journey can get rough and lonely. While this path requires focus and determination, creativity is also playful so we can’t forget to have fun. Don’t give up, this path is way too hard to just do it for other people. Do it because you can, do it for yourself, and have a good a*s time doing it too!

Contact Info:

• Website: getuppgirl.com 
• Instagram: getuppgirl
• Other: https://vimeo.com/getuppgirl