21st HollyShorts Film Festival, 2025

Elder is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer, recognized with the de Groot Foundation’s Writer of Note Award for his bold and thought-provoking play #NWORD. He is also a former quarterfinalist for the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.

Elder attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the Art Institute of Florence in Italy. Having pursued a career in fine arts, advertising and graphic design, Elder turned toward writing and filmmaking. He's received a number of grants, recognitions and awards for his writing. His short films have screened at many festivals including LA Shorts International Film Festival, Hill Country Film Festival, the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival and the HollyShorts Film Festival. He is in the process of developing his next play, The Anatomy of Lies, and his latest vampire horror short film, Woke, is presently touring the festival circuit.

@xian_elder