Visual Artist
Commercial & TV DGA Director
Former Edward F. Albee Foundation / Resident
Former Variety Magazine Content Producer
Currently Freelance Creative
BIO:
Eli, a Northern California native with roots in Texas, grew up in a biracial family. This unique blend of cultures sparked his creativity, leading him to pen the screenplay "Granola." The story delves into the lives of two liberal parents, each with their own distinct approach to their beliefs.
His foray into filmmaking began with "Tree Babies," a short mockumentary that opened doors for him in the world of commercials and television. Eli's journey since then has been nothing short of remarkable, amassing an impressive portfolio with names like T-Mobile, Southwest Airlines, and Travelocity.
In 2015, Eli's talents were part of the Emmy Award-winning team behind Variety's "Actors on Actors."
Eli's instincts as a filmmaker, coupled with his keen eye for casting, lay the groundwork for his diverse film projects, both branded and independent. He's not just passionate about storytelling; he deeply values production design and art direction. His relentless pursuit of fresh, invigorating talent takes him across the globe, always on the lookout for the next great discovery.
Eli never wanted to be a Director. He wanted to be a “wise guy”, like the characters he saw every day on the streets of his rough and tumble childhood neighborhood. He coveted their fancy cars, shiny suits and clever nicknames, but not being Italian, becoming a “made man” wasn’t meant to be. fuhgeddaboudit. After advertising schooling, Eli yearned to break free and express his creativity. He enrolled in photography classes and there he discovered the Camera Obscura.
Once Eli looked through a camera, he never looked back.
After starting in film, he shot the streets and the people he found there. On those streets he developed a voyeuristic shooting style and a love affair with the human face - his love, as he puts it, “of characters.” Eli also discovered shooting commercials for fancy people, shot in warm cozy studios with a catered lunch pay way better than photographs of the “great unwashed” huddling under freezing expressway feeder-ramps shot at 3AM.
While some argue Green left his artistic integrity in the gutter when he stepped from the streets and into his warm, cozy commercial sets, no one doubts what he brought with him has served him well: His street sensibilities and his lifetime love “of characters”.
Eli Green turned out to be a wise guy after all.