Eli Akira Kaufman spent the first decade of his life in Japan, Iran and Belgium where his Japanese American mother and Russian Jewish father taught in international schools. A graduate of Oberlin College, Kaufman completed his MFA in directing at The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2007. As a Film Independent Project: Involve Honoree, Kaufman worked with the Polish brothers on their third film, Northfork. Kaufman has written and directed several award winning short films including Birthday Haiku, and Winning the Peace for Showtime. Kaufman also directed live theater for The Francis Ford Coppola One Act Play Festival and was the recipient of the Jim Morrison Prize for directing, the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors Foundation Production Grant, and the Alfred P. Sloan Production Award for his thesis film, California King which was honored by The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with a Student Emmy. Kaufman taught 11th and 12th grade literature and film at Wildwood School in West Los Angeles and is an Adjunct Professor of film and television at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster where he also co-hosted The Antelope Valley Cinema Series. Before being named a CBS Diversity Institute Directing Initiative Fellow, he was a director’s shadow on The Unit (CBS), SHARK (CBS), Mad Men (AMC) and BONES (Fox). Kaufman was also recently selected to direct multiple scenes in The 2010 NBC Universal Diversity Scene Showcase. He currently works at FilmINDependent.org as the Senior Content Producer for the Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival. Eli lives in Venice, CA with his wife Cheryl and son Asa.