Meet Elissa Nelson | 1st Assistant Director & Writer

Working for yourself can be super challenging because you are your own boss, and to be frank, at times I am a bad employee. I come from Atlanta where I was used to working nonstop on a movie or television show which is 12+ hour days, 5 times a week, for months on end. So I got used to relaxing between jobs and having faith the next one would always show up before I was in desperate need of it. Now I work more freelance jobs in Miami, and those are just a few days at a time for the most part. I have had to completely reinvent my work/life balance because I should really be working all of time, now that I am able to have so much more free time. I have had to refocus recently because when the work got slow, I had to realize I had plenty of other things to do because I am my job, I am my brand. I have recently enjoyed using an hourly planner to sort out my days so I don’t get paralyzed by choice. Yes, I could continue onto the next show because no one is telling me where to be and what to do. But should I? Probably not, I have work to do – I have to invest this time into myself. So now, I wake up and meditate first thing in the morning, and then I plan out how I would like my day to go hour by hour. This may sound overwhelming to some, but we so frequently get distracted and paralyzed by choices that we remain stagnant. So now I know exactly how my day is going to go (but I can be flexible, I got a digital planner so it’s easy to edit). I don’t get distracted because I’ve already designated this hour to do something, it’s ultimately helped me live in the present without anxiety.

I have had many revelations and realizations recently and the main one is that I am a writer. I have always been a writer, but it’s like I got distracted and forgot about it. This year, I have made a promise to myself to write every day. I am in the process of writing a self help book about thriving in chaos, and I am making good progress with my screenplay.

I think my art is set apart in that I write from reality, and my reality is mine alone. I create based on my experiences, I firmly believe that life is chaotic and wild all on its own with no need for fiction. Once I have purged my life experiences from my brain onto paper, perhaps I can start getting creative with my imagination, until then I will be transcribing from personal experience.