Personal Statement

Most of my films are short documentaries in the verite style about individuals. My films are shot by me over long periods of time usually from 2-5 years. I shoot a lot of tape and like distilling it down with editors into a dense, intense, sometimes humorous, story filled film. Behind the camera I like being invisible and gaining access to the intimate events in my subjects lives. I like my work to be seen by a large audience in mainstream situations. I like films that are easily accessible to viewers with story arcs that take the audience on a journey into a life they would not ordinarily enter. My films are not political, but I use them in an activist ways to make social change. They are both works of art and activist tools because the stories lure the audience into an empathetic relationships with the characters.

Biography

Alice Elliott has worked in theater, film and television for over 35 years. She is a an Academy Award nominated director, a writer, producer, actress, parent, college level teacher, advocate for the disabled, cinematographer, New Day film distribution cooperative member-owner, wife, and voiceover artist. A published and produced playwright of both adult and children's plays, she recently directed and co-produced the documentary Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy that will be seen on PBS in October 2009. Her short documentary, The Collector of Bedford Street, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2002. It went to over 50 film festivals and won 18 awards.

Alice has several other documentaries in production, including 2 Weddings and a Future about the Christian and Hindu weddings of Carrie and Sujeet Desai, a couple with Down Syndrome. She is completing shooting on One World, Everybody Eats about Denise Cerreta and her mission to end world hunger with innovative pay-what-you think the meal is worth restaurants. This summer she was able to most of the filming on The Callicoon Center Band, a documentary that celebrates 75 years of a small town community band and the community that makes it possible.

Currently she is directing The Miracle on 42nd Street, a feature length documentary produced by Mary Jo Slater and Nancy Perkins, edited by Lisa Shreve. It is about the 30 year old innovative housing project called Manhattan Plaza. The two towers on 42nd Street provide mixed and subsidized housing for performing artists.

She is an Associate Teacher at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As a performer, she appeared on ABC's daytime drama LOVING for ten years and made two feature films including Four Friends, directed by Arthur Penn.

For major publishers in New York, she has recorded English as a Second Language programs and was one of the speakers on the TOEFL English Standard audio tests. In addition she has produced or performed in over 200 commercials. She teaches a voice over class for NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and coaches voice over clients, radio personalities, and public speakers.

She is a member of New York Women in Film and Television (former board member and secretary), The Arc of the United States, Westchester, and Illinois.