WRITER
JAPANESE-ITALIAN AMERICAN
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
EDITOR
DESIGNER
BASED OUT OF LA & NY
FROM SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
MAREN EMIKO ELARDO
MY JOURNEY INTO FILM
AS PLOT POINTS
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AS PLOT POINTS ⭑
Began making stop-motion Barbie films with my two older sisters on our mom’s camcorder
PLOT POINT 1
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Fell in love with storytelling
Started making videos for fun in high school with friends and classmates
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PLOT POINT 4
Chose film production as my career path
Got accepted into California State University, Northridge’s Film Production program
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Moved to New York during the pandemic and worked on various film sets while doing online school
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Moved to Northridge for in-person classes where I began creating and contributing to various short films for my classes
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My script “Ikigai” was selected at CSUN to become a short film
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I graduated from CSUN with a degree in Film Production, an emphasis in Editing, and a minor in Photography & Video
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I became a Golden Globe Foundation Fellow and attended the 81st Annual Golden Globes as a trophy presenter. I met Greta Gerwig!!
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My team and I had the amazing opportunity of coloring and processing our film at Fotokem in Burbank! Our film was colored in the same theater as Oppenheimer!!
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My debut writing and directing project “Ikigai” premiered at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater for CSUN’s 33rd Annual Film Showcase
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I officially became an award-winning First Time Female Director through Indie Short Fest! My script “Ikigai” was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay and won an Outstanding Achievement Award!
