Elias' love for storytelling developed while growing up in Oakland, CA and honed at the prestigious UCLA school of Theater, Film, and Television where he concentrated in directing and screenwriting. While in the program he won numerous accolades: The 2009 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award, Frank Glicksman Award for Artistic Merit in Film Directing, The Gross Manet Foundation Award for Professional Promise and Excellence in the field of Film Production, and the 2009 Motion Picture Association of America Award, among many others. He was also a 2013 Sundance screenwriters lab semifinalist. After film school, at the age of 22, Elias wrote, directed, produced, and edited the award winning and international acclaimed feature film "Against the Grain," which went on to screen all over the world. The film premiered at the 2012 Hollywood Black Film Festival winning the Audience Choice Award and Jury Award. At the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, it won the Audience Favorite Narrative Award. At the Gasparilla International Film Festival Elias picked up the Special Grand Jury Award for Filmmaking, and won the coveted Ave' Montague Award at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. Internationally, "Against the Grain" was one of three films nominated for Best Diaspora Feature at the Africa Movie Academy Awards and screened in Cannes, France.
