Elizabeth Ai

Elizabeth Ai is an Emmy award-winning producer, creating independent narrative and documentary content as well as for companies such as National Geographic, ESPN, and VICE. DIRTY HANDS: THE ART & CRIMES OF DAVID CHOE is a longitudinal documentary portrait she produced of the titled artist after his release from solitary confinement from a Tokyo prison and before his meteoric rise in the art world (dir. Harry Kim). In 2011, she produced a foreign language feature narrative in Vietnam, SAIGON ELECTRIC, a love story that takes place in the world of breakdancing (dir. Stephane Gauger). A WOMAN’S WORK: THE NFL’S CHEERLEADER PROBLEM, a feature documentary she wrote and produced, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, explores the personal impact of wage theft and exploitation of the only visible women in the NFL (dir. Yu Gu). Since 2012, she’s been directing and producing a longitudinal documentary, IN THE SHADOW OF THE HILLS, about the effects of modernity, tourism, and climate change on the women of indigenous tribes in the Himalayan foothills of Sapa, Vietnam. While Elizabeth worked for VICE’s food verticle, MUNCHIES (via FreeMantle Media), she created, produced, and directed two pilots that went to series, SEX+FOOD (2015) and BONG APPÉTIT (2014), the latter went to broadcast on VICELAND. As Head of Production and Creative, she built and leads the video department at Redbird Studios, a marketing agency focused Health and Education. She’s a fellow of Berlin Talent Campus, Film Independent, National Association of Latino of Independent Producers, Points North Institute, Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, and the Corporation for Public Broadcast. Additionally, her film projects are supported by Firelight Media, Independent Film Project, Knight Foundation, and International Television Service. She received her B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Southern California.