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Eva Contis is a director who bounces between New Orleans and Los Angeles.

 

After studying at Lee Strasberg and the American Conservatory Theater, Eva realized her fear of having her picture taken would sabotage any dreams of being in front of the camera. She then applied to film school and turned down her acceptance because she longed for adventure and classrooms made her cringe.

 

Shortly after the Berlin Wall came down, Eva lived and traveled throughout Central and Eastern Europe before she got a degree in Latin American Studies from UCSC, which inspired more travels in South America and the U.S.  She taught first and second grade in South Los Angeles before she became a film editor to hone her craft of storytelling. The short she edited, THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE took home an Oscar in 2012.

 

Her directorial debut, THE STAND can be traced back to the Louisiana Film Prize, where it made the “Top 5” as well as winning a "Founder’s Circle Grant". THE STAND screened at numerous film festivals, was Oscar-qualified and landed distribution with Shorts International. It was also featured in a four-page spread in American Cinematographer featuring Valentina Caniglia's beautiful camera work.

 

For her second short, BREASTS, she was the recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant. Additionally, she and her team raised over $16,000 on Seed & Spark and another $6,500 from private donors. It had a strong festival run that started with a premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival before heading to the Austin Film Festival for its Texas premiere. It screened worldwide at over 20 film festivals, winning awards for best short drama, best international short, best story, two awards for social impact and a nomination for best director.

 

Her third short, STUCK IN THE MIDDLE, after also making it into the Top 20 of the Louisiana Film Prize, found its audience when it was distributed free on Vimeo where it has almost 5000 views to date.  It has been invited to screen at film festivals around the world from New York and Portugal to Covington, LA, all the way to Seoul, Korea. Along the way it picked up an audience award and got international distribution through Gonella Productions.

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Recently she has been developing a short-form anthology series adapted from a one act play by Mykah Fontenot called BATHROOM DRAMA, which was a finalist in the Warner Pitch Contest sponsored by the New Orleans Film Society.

 

Eva is a registered “pro” on Free the Work and recently helmed her first commercial.  She is a member of Alliance of Women Directors as well as Women in Film.

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