Elizabeth Rinella Elsass

As Associate Director, Production Operations for the Graduate Film program, Elizabeth Rinella Elsass oversees production logistics, operations, and advisement for all Graduate Film curricular student productions. 

Elizabeth teaches Introduction to Producing I and II in the Grad Film program, and has taught multiple filmmaking and production courses at NYU over the past twenty years. 

In 2024, Elizabeth was instrumental in the inaugural launch of the NYU’s Empowering Indigenous Voices Intensive Film Directing Workshop held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in July 2024. She also founded The Grad Film Producer’s Collective in 2023 in an effort to create more pathways to connect like-minded artists within the NYU Community.  

Elizabeth began her career at TriStar Pictures in Los Angeles in script development for Wendy Finerman Productions. She supported producer Laura Ziskin on Gus Van Sant’s To Die For and on Ms. Ziskin’s directing debut, Oh What A Day, 1914! written by Alvin Sargent while working at Columbia Pictures. Elsass was part of the initial team with Ziskin that created Fox 2000 at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles before relocating to New York City. She has worked with many renowned artists, including Annie Leibovitz, Ron Howard, Todd Hallowell, Alvin Sargent and Buck Henry. 

Her greatest love is supporting artists during their education as they develop their voice and vision.

Courses

Introduction to Producing (Graduate Film)
Open Arts: Fundamentals of Filmmaking I
The Art of Visual Storytelling
Fundamentals of Film II: Directing & Producing the Short
Understanding Story
Producing Essentials