Elizabeth Anne

Elizabeth Anne was born in Orlando, FL USA (one of three siblings to an older half-sister and older half-brother). She is an active, independent filmmaker and live performer. Her work has been viewed at over 45 screenings in the US, Canada and Mexico. Elizabeth is also former President and co-owner of the music publishing and multi-media-production company, FunkyButtMonkeeMusic, INC (2001-2009). Elizabeth knew at the age of four that she had to be a performer (even if to the annoyance of her immediate family). She performed in her first school play at the age of six and was a backup singer for the late 70's cover group Everybody's Friends at the age of seven. Known by her grammar school classmates for her rhymes, "Lil' Lizzie' wrote numerous poems for her friends to skip rope to. After losing her first double-dutch competition, she decided to stick to rhyming. She became a fan of rap in 1978, and followed the careers of artists in the early 80's (who would mold what has become today the foundation of Hip-Hop). This created a lasting impression on how she would view social awareness through her written works. Her father owned a Bolex 16mm camera with which he created stop-motion animation films, and often attempted to get Elizabeth to be inspired with the medium. Otherwise, he had a violent temper and seldom had anything to do with his daughter. He left the family when Elizabeth was nine, leaving her mother to raise her and her sister through teenage years of poverty. Although it hindered their opportunities, it did not destroy their spirit. Elizabeth stayed active in middle and high school chorus, in addition to become a Thespian with her Saint Cloud High School Drama department. She won her first title as a Director for her solo adaptation of "Pink Floyd's The Wall". Elizabeth's first role in a video film was RAZZ in "The Winnie Wincent Invasion" a mocumentary written and written by her friend Steven Reeder. Elizabeth even spent a year playing percussion (congas and xylophone) in her high school jazz band. However, although she comes from a family of talented musicians, Elizabeth did not exude the same prowess on the keys, brass, woodwinds or strings. She still tried them all, but ultimately chose to stay with sticks in hand. Awarded an academic scholarship to her local community college (Valencia) she remained indecisive to a major, changing from Music to Entertainment Tech, (and years later to Film and then Digital Media). Eventually becoming a 'perpetual student' with almost a hundred credits, she never pursued even the desire to gain a degree. So obviously this hindered her financially. She kept a career with Publix Supermarkets throughout the 90's while she pursued performing on the side. Throughout her 20's Elizabeth performed with different local groups, contributing songwriting and vocals. She recorded two albums, a shelved project with the rock group Serious Xtrimities, and a gospel project with Ground Beneath Me. She did not pursue being a solo artist until 1999, which included a brief stint in 2001 working with Geroge Clinton of P-Funk fame. Her second career was with Universal Orlando from 1999 to 2004, while she still pursued producing her solo projects. She ultimately turned down a contract form Interscope Records in 2002, stating "they basically wanted to change everything about me that made me, which made me wonder what they thought they saw in me in the first place". During 2002 to 2006 Elizabeth performed under the nickname "Alien Lizzie" locally, as well as a few fortunate tour dates with friend's shows. In the early 2000's Elizabeth became very active attending film festivals, including Tribecca, Toronto, NYC, Sundance and especially her home-town Florida Film Festival. It wasn't long before she would begin to create her own films. Her directorial debut, "Writes of Passage" (about an artists movement spearheaded by local artist friend Swamburger that Elizabeth was involved in) earned four awards and sealed her interest in social-conscious documentaries. Her following work, "The Lead By Example Project Documentary Series", showcased local talent while Elizabeth learned the ropes of how to solely shoot, direct, produce and edit videos. Not all of the attempts were high quality, but a few stood out from the rest, including early pre-fame accounts with the music group Solillaquists of Sound. She eventually took some classes in filmmaking and through education and practice she strengthened her work. Several more videos followed, due in large part to the creation of Jason Neff's Film-Slam at the Downtown Media Arts Center in 2004. First a weekly event, and then a monthly event, it allowed local filmmakers to screen their works to a local audience for free. After several hosts, John Theisen took the event and later brought it to the famous Enzian Theater art house. Elizabeth never missed a slam, often submitting works to the event. She certainly had Theisen to thanks for nurturing her while she molded into an accomplished filmmaker. To this day she credits his efforts and patience as the biggest influence in her filmmaker career. In 2009 she was awarded the United Arts of Central Florida Professional Development Grant for her music video The HOOK, which she wrote, produced, directed, and edited, but most importantly, performed. Taking that to heart, she decided to go back to performing on stage, and began work in late 2010 on a musical stand-up comedy project for 2011. Also in late 2010, she co-produced and art documentary with Asaan 'Swamburer' Brooks, looking back at the start of the B-Side Artists movement of Orlando, FL. This garnished her new awards and opportunities to get back into the film festival circuit. Elizabeth resides in her hometown of Orlando, FL USA, where she continues to work with community documentary projects and social-conscious music videos.