Nestled in the enchanting hills of Topanga, with Ocean view, and located only 50 yards from her home, this calm-inspiring place is only 25min from SM Elisa Bonora was born in Milan, Italy, and studied film editing at the Albedo Film School (Milan). She perfected her skills through the USC extension program, working in 35mm, 16mm, tape, and non-linear editing. Since then, Elisa has mastered a wide
range of editing experiences, from advertising to fiction, from documentaries to web episodes. Recently, she has also moved into production, co-producing No Subtitles Necessary. Laszlo and Vilmos (2008), a feature-length documentary on the lives and times of star cinematographers Laszlo Kovac and Vilmos Zsigmond, which was an official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film festival, and was also nominated for a 2010 News and Documentary Emmy Award. After a few years of apprenticeship in Italy, Elisa began her career in Los Angeles starting editing TV commercials with Red Car Editorial, where she worked for two of the filmmakers who have most inspired her: editor-director Larry Bridges, and acclaimed director Joe Pytka. In 1993 she opened her own post production company, Us2 Editorial, with which she completed prestigious campaigns for Pepsi, Apple, Nike, Sony, Hallmark, Levi's Gap, Malboro, and Blue Cross. During this period, she collaborated with highly creative commercial directors like Tony Kaye, Marcus Nespel, Anthony Hoffman, Tony Scott, David Cornel, and Paul Gerout. Her strength in dialogue and storytelling, along her capacity to create an intense atmosphere and elegant moods, won her several advertising awards, including the Golden Lion at Cannes in 1997. In 2002 she started her long-format career when Oliver Stone asked her to edit Comandante, a feature-length documentary on Fidel Castro and Cuba. Following the international success of Comandante, she collaborated with Pietro Scalia in editing the art film Ashes and Snow (2005), shot and directed by the Canadian photographer Gregory Colbert. In 2007 Elisa refurbished a vintage 1968 Airstream RV on a two-acre property in the Topanga Canyon State Park, California. There she housed her off line editing system, and opened a new post-production company, Airstream Film, dedicated to long-format editing, while she still successfully freelances for advertising.
