By Lily Hutcheson
Welcome to NYWIFT, Elizabeth Bendelac!
Elizabeth “Liz” Bendelac is a locations professional. She’s managed, key assistant managed, scouted, and coordinated for film and television across New York and New Jersey. Her credits? NBC’s New Amsterdam. Paramount’s Smile. Sony’s Goosebumps: The Vanishing for Disney+. Indie? She’s there too. Ponyboi, starring Dylan O’Brien and Victoria Pedretti. She’s everywhere you need her to be—quietly making it all happen.
Recent work in the Tri-State area? The Home with Pete Davidson. Insidious 5. Manifest. Disenchanted. Resurrection. The Good Nurse. And a standout collaboration with Edward Burns on his sequel to The Brothers McMullen: The Family McMullen.
Outside of production, Elizabeth dedicates her time to Surfers Healing, a nonprofit surf camp for children with autism. It’s a cause close to her heart, combining her love of the ocean with her commitment to community and empathy.
Elizabeth is also an adjunct faculty member at the New Jersey Institute of Technology where she developed and teaches a course on location management.
Elizabeth: She doesn’t just do locations. She produces. And producing, for her, has rules. Collaborate with directors who share her values. Strong roles for women of color. Fresh takes on stories you thought you knew. Films with the elegance of Merchant & Ivory but the punch to succeed in the real world. Films that leave a mark.
To that end, she’s developing two scripts with award-winning playwright Montserrat Mendez. Exploring genre mash-ups. Shaking up narratives. Figuring out new ways to make audiences sit up, pay attention, maybe even gasp.
Because whether it’s a location or a story, Elizabeth Bendelac knows how to map the journey. She knows the destination. And she will get you there.
NYWIFT Member Elizabeth Bendelac
Welcome to NYWIFT! Please introduce yourself briefly to our readers.
Hello! My name is Elizabeth Bendelac, I am a film and television location professional from New York City. I am also a huge fan of surfing, golfing, cooking, spending time with friends and family and traveling when I am not working!
Elizabeth Bendelac
What brings you to NYWIFT?
I was looking for a female driven community that I could be a part of to expand my network and connect with other incredible women in film and television, so NYWIFT seemed like the perfect fit!
Elizabeth Bendelac with friends
How did you become interested in location scouting and management? Can you share a bit about the importance of this role within film and television productions?
I have been wanting to work in the film industry since I was a child. 11 years old is when I figured it out, from that point I was dead set on working in the film business.
When I was in college, I produced a TV pilot with my best friend. I also served as the location manager, and at that point fell in love with the logistics of scouting and permitting a location for filming.
I worked my first real locations job in Los Angeles when I was living there after college. One of my mentors is Kokayi Ampah, who was the LM for Shawshank Redemption, Mars Attacks, and The Color Purple, among many others. He gave me my first paid location job in 2016 and when I moved back home to NYC, I kept doing it, eventually joining my union in 2018.
Elizabeth Bendelac
How has your work on large, studio-based productions differed from smaller, independent projects? What are the benefits and challenges of each?
The biggest difference is most assuredly the budget and manpower. On smaller productions we obviously have less money and in turn not as many helping hands as we would on a studio job, so I find myself having to really push harder for things on the smaller jobs.
The bigger jobs bring on the day-to-day challenges of creating something massive and thus have so many moving parts that the challenge is keeping up. Both are incredibly rewarding and bring about their own lessons.
Elizabeth Bendelac on set
What is one of your favorite locations you have ever worked on?
My favorite would be filming at the Metropolitan Museum of Art while it was closed to the public for the VFX unit of the Percy Jackson TV Series. It was an awesome Wednesday just being able to roam around the Met without all of the crowds.
Do you have any current or upcoming projects you’re excited about?
I am helping a mentor of mine with a personal project of his, so I am really excited about that and shooting the proof of concept for it and I have some exciting projects in development with my producing partner Montserrat Mendez.
You can connect with Liz on IMDb and on Instagram at @goforliz28.
Lily Hutcheson
Lily Hutcheson is an intern at NYWIFT and a student at Princeton University, where she is studying English and creative writing. She grew up in Vermont, and enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs. She loves film, television, and theater, and especially enjoys writing and directing. She hopes to continue exploring these interests post-graduation, and is excited to be a part of the NYWIFT community!
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Stephanie Lynn Jones
Welcome to NYWIFT, Stephanie Lynn Jones! Stephanie is a filmmaker, TV writer, and multi-disciplinary creative with two decades in screen and stage storytelling. She directed the short doc memoir The Jones Twins: Bebop Souls in a Muzak™ World (BRIC TV) and launched her film career on Spike Lee’s production teams. An Emmy nominee for Nickelodeon’s Gullah Gullah Island, she has developed her own TV projects with Universal Kids, PBS Kids, and TIME Studios. With her twin, Suzanne, The Jones Twins’ performance work has appeared at major venues in NYC and beyond; they also lent their vocals to the Slamdance Festival award-winning film System Noise. Stephanie holds a B.A. from Howard University and an MFA from NYU Tisch. Read on to get to know Stephanie, learn about her roots in the industry, and get a preview of her short documentary film, The Jones Twins!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Elizabeth K. Budion
Welcome to NYWIFT, Elizabeth K. Budion! A member of SAG-AFTRA since 2014, Elizabeth got her taste of the film industry by doing background and stand-in work for notable shows such as Orange is the New Black, Broad City, How to Be Single, and The Path. After several years in that space, she dabbled in casting for shows such as Law & Order: SVU, before switching gears to join the Peace Corps in 2018. While living in The Gambia, she focused on elevating the societal status of women, expanding their horizons and potential through education. Elizabeth also built a library and wrote various water grants, while learning the local language of Wolof. Returning to the states in 2020, Elizabeth then received her Master's from New York University, in Global Affairs with a focus on international development and women’s rights. Returning to film, Elizabeth recently wrote, produced, and edited a short animated film titled You. Matter.. starring Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. In addition, Elizabeth is currently collaborating with her filmmaker husband to pen a feature titled RetroViewer. When not working on films, Elizabeth enjoys having new adventures with her adorable 16-month-old son Louis Joseph, or “LouJay!” Read on to learn more about Elizabeth, how she got started in the film industry, and her experience in the Peace Corps!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Catherine Craig
Welcome to NYWIFT, Catherine Craig! Catherine Craig was George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic's first animation FX camerawoman, later becoming a digital artist at ILM. A highly regarded film archivist, Craig designed the Coppola film archive and implemented Zoetrope's domestic and international film distribution. As an early female entrepreneur, Craig founded her own award-winning, union and guild-affiliated film company, specializing in high-end industrial and commercial productions. Her vast experience spans all aspects of filmmaking: she's worked as a director, producer, camera operator, concept artist, storyboard artist, special FX artist, sound recordist, and more. Her screenplay OddFX was accepted into the NYWIFT-affiliated The Writers Lab. The film follows a mother living in a women's shelter, battling a physically abusive husband and a broken support system, who enlists the help of a special FX film crew. Catherine discusses her groundbreaking work with ILM, her drive to tell her own stories, and her film currently in development, OddFX!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Patricia Hess
Welcome to NYWIFT, Patricia Hess! Patricia Hess is an accomplished DGA UPM and line producer with extensive experience in feature films, TV, and streaming content. She is New York-based professional with both domestic and international credits, including Angels in America, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Philomena, and Raising Arizona, among many others. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Patty divides her time between her family farm in Virginia and New York. During our interview, Patricia shared the remarkable story of her journey in the industry. We often admire the success of individuals who achieve their vision, yet rarely do we see the humble beginnings, the sacrifices made, the moments of doubt and fear, or the times they considered giving up. Patricia’s story is a powerful reminder of the resilience, perseverance, and mindset of gratitude and acceptance that often underpin true success.
READ MORE
Comments are closed