Talisha Elger is an award-winning film director, writer, and photographer from Ipswich, Australia, and a recent MFA graduate in Screenwriting from the AFI Conservatory. She completed her BA in Writing and Film/Television at the University of Queensland with distinction and spent an academic quarter at UCLA, studying Screenwriting, The Art and Technique of Filmmaking, Television Studies, and Entertainment Economics—earning a spot on the Dean’s Honors List and a screenwriting mentorship with her professor, Linda Voorhees, who’s also the founder of ProPath Screenwriting. Talisha also holds an Advanced Diploma of Screen (Film & Television) and a Certification in Photo-imaging from Southbank Institute of Technology.

Her short film, The Fears of Young Caroline, was a Coup de Coeur at Cannes and won awards globally. Her feature screenplays Golden Nugget’ is currently optioned/in development, Utopia Dystopia is currently on the Top Lists on the Black List and is a quarterfinalist in Page International Screenwriting Awards and Screencraft, and her pilot The Principal was a finalist in Script Pipeline. Her AFI thesis film, Some Kind of Paradise, co-written with the director, premiered In Competition at Tribeca and won the Jury Award at OUTshine Film Festival.

With an 18-year background in the dance world, Talisha’s distinct and compelling creative voice gravitates towards dark, bold, strange, and unsettling projects with a subtle comedic undertone. She continually explores new avenues, blending the classic with the unconventional to create tonally unique works.

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