Elyse Friedman
Encyclopedia
Elyse Friedman born in 1963 in Toronto, Canada and was raised in North York, Ontario
.
in Brampton
, Ontario
. Friedman grew up with her mom and dad, as well as her older sister Robyn, and her younger brother Danny. By grade ten Elyse had dropped out of her junior high in order to spend time with her boyfriend at the time. However, when she was seventeen, Elyse re-enrolled in school and finished the requirements needed for her to graduate with a grade thirteen certificate.
Prior to her debut novel and screenplays, Elyse worked for ten years as a “slide rat”, assistant producer, producer and writer. She also worked the kids channel YTV, and then continued on to the likes of Radio shows such as Brand X
and Definitely Not the Opera
. Of her ‘dark decade,’ Elyse says that she “went into another line of work for 10 years, and by the time [she] was done, it was easier to be a writer than a film-maker. It’s because you just do it on your own – you don’t rely on anyone else.”.
Friedman has said that although she gets some of her inspiration for writing from her own personal experiences and family life, she has no particular inspiration for her writings:
“If I had to sum up [my character] in one word, I’d say ‘outsiders.’ There’s not one particular source from where I get my inspiration. It comes from different places. I get it from life, and ideas pop into my head. I file them away and sooner or later it’s time to deal with them, whether in screenplay, book, or poem or whatever it happens to be.”
Friedman’s book Then Again shadows the events and happenings of her own life. Her character has a similar job to what Friedman had to start out, and her character also goes through the traumatic experience of losing her mother at a young age.
with her son Max, and her husband and writer-director Randall Cole.
and the United States
.
A comedy about a 40 year old novelist who is struggling with writers block, but then meets and falls in love with a writer who is talented and much younger. Suddenly Naked appeared on film festival screens in places such as Toronto
, Vancouver
and Hawaii
. This movie earned six Genie Award
nominations and won an award for best editing.
In Then Again, Friedman “Fashions characters who go to extraordinary lengths in their efforts to escape or recapture the past; as they discover the high price that accompanies the knowledge that neither of these things is possible.” Then Again highlights the “limits of family loyalty and the necessity of choosing to live for oneself when the demand of others becomes intolerable.” Friedman has said that she wrote this book because she “wanted to talk about the lingering effects on the children of holocaust survivors. There’s a residue that remains and has an effect on children. [She] also wanted to explore the ideas of subjective memory – how different siblings can have different takes on the same environment.” Then Again is a prominent book in bookstores and is published by Random House
.
In Long Story Short, Friedman has put together a collection of short stories that “document the lives of six perverse and eccentric protagonists who share one common characteristic: living lives that have somehow gone off kilter” Friedman explains that “the short story is nice because it’s not a big commitment of time, so you can take chances with ideas and be a little bit [more] free than if you were writing a novel, which you have to make sure is the right idea because you spend a year on it.” Long Story Short is a novella series and was published by Anansi
.
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Education and career
Elyse attended and graduated from film school at Sheridan CollegeSheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...
in Brampton
Brampton
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Friedman grew up with her mom and dad, as well as her older sister Robyn, and her younger brother Danny. By grade ten Elyse had dropped out of her junior high in order to spend time with her boyfriend at the time. However, when she was seventeen, Elyse re-enrolled in school and finished the requirements needed for her to graduate with a grade thirteen certificate.
Prior to her debut novel and screenplays, Elyse worked for ten years as a “slide rat”, assistant producer, producer and writer. She also worked the kids channel YTV, and then continued on to the likes of Radio shows such as Brand X
Brand X
Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins , Percy Jones , John Goodsall and Robin Lumley ....
and Definitely Not the Opera
Definitely Not the Opera
Definitely Not the Opera is a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture. The program is broadcast on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. . An abridged version of each weekly program is available for download as a weekly podcast...
. Of her ‘dark decade,’ Elyse says that she “went into another line of work for 10 years, and by the time [she] was done, it was easier to be a writer than a film-maker. It’s because you just do it on your own – you don’t rely on anyone else.”.
Friedman has said that although she gets some of her inspiration for writing from her own personal experiences and family life, she has no particular inspiration for her writings:
“If I had to sum up [my character] in one word, I’d say ‘outsiders.’ There’s not one particular source from where I get my inspiration. It comes from different places. I get it from life, and ideas pop into my head. I file them away and sooner or later it’s time to deal with them, whether in screenplay, book, or poem or whatever it happens to be.”
Friedman’s book Then Again shadows the events and happenings of her own life. Her character has a similar job to what Friedman had to start out, and her character also goes through the traumatic experience of losing her mother at a young age.
Personal life
Elyse Friedman now lives in Mississauga, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
with her son Max, and her husband and writer-director Randall Cole.
Awards and accomplishments
Elyse Friedman has published one book of short stories, two novels, and a compilation of poems and has written several films or screen plays. Elyse has won the Gold National Magazine Award for fiction and her stories have appeared in various literary journals and anthologies in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Films and screenplays
- "Suddenly NakedSuddenly NakedSuddenly Naked is a 2001 drama film directed by Anne Wheeler and written by Elyse Friedman.-Plot:Jackie York is a famous novelist with a secret: she is suffering from writer's block and is unable to write her much-anticipated novel. After being used and then dumped by a wannabe movie director,...
, 2001
A comedy about a 40 year old novelist who is struggling with writers block, but then meets and falls in love with a writer who is talented and much younger. Suddenly Naked appeared on film festival screens in places such as Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. This movie earned six Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
nominations and won an award for best editing.
- Birds of AmericaBirds of AmericaBirds of America may refer to:*Birds of America , a book by John James Audubon first published in sections between 1827 and 1838*Birds of America , a 2008 film directed by Craig Lucas....
, 2008
Novels and short stories
- Then Again, 1999
In Then Again, Friedman “Fashions characters who go to extraordinary lengths in their efforts to escape or recapture the past; as they discover the high price that accompanies the knowledge that neither of these things is possible.” Then Again highlights the “limits of family loyalty and the necessity of choosing to live for oneself when the demand of others becomes intolerable.” Friedman has said that she wrote this book because she “wanted to talk about the lingering effects on the children of holocaust survivors. There’s a residue that remains and has an effect on children. [She] also wanted to explore the ideas of subjective memory – how different siblings can have different takes on the same environment.” Then Again is a prominent book in bookstores and is published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
.
- Long Story Short, 2004
In Long Story Short, Friedman has put together a collection of short stories that “document the lives of six perverse and eccentric protagonists who share one common characteristic: living lives that have somehow gone off kilter” Friedman explains that “the short story is nice because it’s not a big commitment of time, so you can take chances with ideas and be a little bit [more] free than if you were writing a novel, which you have to make sure is the right idea because you spend a year on it.” Long Story Short is a novella series and was published by Anansi
Anansi
Anansi the trickster is a spider, and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the Southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man...
.
- Waking Beauty, 2004
- Then Again: A Novella Series, 2007