About me
Hi there! So glad you landed here. My name is Elena and here is my professional story. You can also check out my portfolio and CV.
Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Back in 2010 I graduated from college with a major in Public Relations and started building a career in film. I used to work as the film journalist — the one that makes industry reports and interviews, or goes to filming locations and premieres to write an article about it.
I always loved the process of video editing. I started with Windows Movie Maker, then switched to Adobe Premiere, and then I got my first master's degree in Film Editing and switched to Avid. Today I can use both Premiere and any other software from Adobe Cloud, when necessary, and Avid Media Composer. I still love video editing! If you want to be my friend, ask me to edit a video for you.
Then I got the video editor job in the Marketing Department of the biggest film & ad production company in Russia, Bazelevs. That was one of the most important and significant experiences I’ve had in my life. I became very familiar with the technical side related to video editing, such as all kinds of video encoding for different kinds of purposes (TV, screenings, etc.), learned to understand the overall postproduction process, and how film industry and business work.
After that, I got my Ph.D. in Art history. My research was focused on various kinds of digital narratives and how technology changes storytelling practices. At that point, I also started to teach. For now, teaching and mentoring are things that make me feel really happy.
Then I started working as the content marketing specialist for startups and tech companies. In 2018 I landed in the company that provided video analytics for businesses, Ivideon. That was a great and very productive time for me — I learned a lot about digital marketing and technology, including computer vision, SaaS, cloud. Working in close collaboration with product managers and developers was also a great way to learn new things.
In 2019 I got accepted to NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I had a dream to study at Tisch since I was 19. Eventually, I applied not to the film directing or creative writing program, as I might have thought earlier, but to the Interactive Telecommunications Program. I think that was one of the most important decisions I’ve taken in my life. ITP is a one and only program, community, and space. I describe it in detail here.
UPDATE 2021: I GRADUATED with my MPS degree in Interactive Telecommunications in May 2021!
My family— mom, dad, my sister, nephew, and most of my friends (except for the very best one that now resides in Tbilisi, Georgia) live in Moscow. Thanks to ITP I now have close friends in New York as well.
I get inspiration from fine arts (check out my machine learning project on Russian impressionist Konstantin Korovin, one of my most favorite artists). My favorite story is “The Shawshank Redemption”, favorite movie — “Nothing to lose”. I hate tabletop games and like to cook soups and Russian pancakes.
I feel the happiest when I get a chance to be a part of a team or community of honest, thoughtful, and open-minded people working together to solve real problems with digital products or art projects. Professionally, I’m looking for opportunities to share, create, challenge myself, grow, and feel that I am contributing to good.
Feel free to message me on Facebook or LinkedIn.
