Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Buckley
Hi Elizabeth, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I studied at both UT and SMU and spent my entire post grad career in the film industry, primarily as a freelance producer/line producer. It was a college internship that landed me my first production experiences that led to networking friendships that led to more work. Starting as a PA, I quickly moved into working as a production coordinator on feature films. My first film Skyward, one of Ron Howard’s first films. Soon after I worked on Tender Mercies, the Horton Foote film that won an Academy Award for best original screenplay. I then had the wonderful opportunity to go to work for Trammel Crow with the Studios at Las Colinas. Our first major film was Silkwood, and I literally got to hang out with crew as well as cast, including Meryl Streep and Cher. We all went dancing one night. It was an extraordinary time. The Studios also hosted Rock and Roll rehearsals, and I had the opportunity to invite a small group of studio employees to listen to a private concert of Robert Plant’s “Pictures at Eleven” the day before I got married. In 1985, inspired by a National Women in Film meeting I was invited to in LA (by the SFA Prod Co, The Godmothers) I founded Women in Film. Dallas. It was good to be young and aspirational as I had no idea how much work it would be! Over my career I have produced or line produced ten feature films, including Dog Days of the West, the feature film extension to Wishbone, the award-winning PBS children’s series I produced, the highlight of my career. The series won several Emmy’s and a Peabody. I also co-created the limited series It’s Easy Being Green with screenwriter Scott Myers, something I’ve very proud of. I just recently started writing and directing. My first film, The Stars at Night premiered at the Austin Film Festival, and has screened all over the world, from Africa to France. Most recently, I’ve been invited to screen the film and lecture on a number of ATLAS Cultural & Astronomy cruises. I’m currently an Assistant Professor of Practice at Texas State University, where I teach producing and the business of film.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working in the movie business was and is fun, but it is also very challenging. As a freelancer, you have to trust that the next job will come along, constantly networking to keep finding more jobs, while managing slow periods as well as strikes and other global upheavals. I had three movies lined up back to back in Austin when the industry went through strikes in the late 1990’s and I lost them all. And after 911, I just wanted to be around people and have some stability. I was fortunate that I had just executive produced a TV Special for KERA in Dallas, and they were looking for someone to find underwriting with some producing on the side. I was so grateful to get that job and go to work with some wonderful people. I had the opportunity to work as an Executive Producer for Trailblazer Studios in Raleigh, NC, and when I came back to work for 1080 Entertainment in San Antonio, it was great until the recession of 2007 – 2009 when I lost my job and found myself in an unfamiliar market — and older. Tom Copeland who started the Cinema Arts program at Texas State hired me to start teaching, and that was a great fit, allowing me and my family to build a house and move to the Hill Country near San Marcos, and equidistant from San Antonio and Austin.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I now consider myself a multi-hyphenate: I teach, I write and direct, and I still produce. I also have Starlight Hospitality, a short term rental business I run with my awesome husband, John Knight. I have an non-profit production company Environmental Arts Alliance that I run, while developing new programming with my producer Ryan Sultemeier. With my fellow faculty member and friend Susan Busa, I lead an education abroad program called The Birth of Cinema in France, a program that takes film students to Paris & Lyon every summer to literally walk in the footsteps of the earliest filmmakers, including Alice Guy Blache. The next documentary I am producing is called What’s the Story Wishbone, it ‘s about the making of the wishbone PBS series that I consider highlight of my career. I am most proud of Wishbone, It’s Easy Being Green, and especially The Stars at Night that was made with very little money and a LOT of heart. I’m not sure if it “sets me apart” but I am a passionately curious person, always ready and excited for the next project, script, or real estate adventure.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I teach Smartphone Filmmaking as a part of the Birth of Cinema in France program, and to challenge myself, I’ve started making my own smartphone films starring my Great Pyranees dog Evee.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thestarsatnight.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethbuckley512/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-buckley-248629b/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@environmentalartsalliance
- Other: https://environmentalartsalliance.org
