She/Her. Elise Frances Garner is a filmmaker from Memphis, Tennessee, with a deep love for emotionally charged stories and visually bold worlds. From a young age, she was drawn to the magic of moviemaking, writing, directing, and acting in homemade films on her iPad. In fifth grade, she put “Future Actress” for her career, but by eighth grade, she realized her passion wasn’t just in front of the camera—it was in crafting every part of a story. After a conversation with her middle school art teacher, who told her she should be a director, she never looked back.

Elise went on to earn her undergraduate degree in Film Studies from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where she honed her voice as both a storyteller and a visual artist. Determined to push her work to the highest level, she applied to just one graduate school: The University of Southern California, the number one film school in the world. With an acceptance rate under 1%, getting in felt like a dream come true and it still does.

Now in her final semester at USC’s prestigious MFA Film & Television Production program, Elise has been honored with the opportunity to direct a thesis film, a competitive, career-defining capstone project selected by faculty.