Biography

Originally from the West Coast, Carl grew up in Vancouver where from a young age he was an avid sailor, animator and photographer.

In 1999, he set sails east to the center of Canada's independent film community, Toronto, to follow his dream of becoming a filmmaker. There he completed his BFA in film production at York University specializing in Cinematography and Producing. By 2004 he had his first film in official competition at the Toronto International Film Festival. Carl's films have garnered awards and prizes all over the world for acting, directing and cinematography.

When he's not producing his own projects, Carl is an active member of the film community in Toronto teaching classes and working as a director of photography on such films as the feature comedy Moon Point, the documentary 30 Ghosts and the television series Now You Know (TVO).

He also owns and operates a successful film production company that produces web commercials, music videos, shorts and features of all types and genres. He has a full roster of production companies, directors and producers that he works with regularly like Sean Cisterna, Avi Federgreen and Sammy Rawal but he is always looking for interesting projects to work on in the future.
- IMDb mini biography by: Carl Elster

From a young age I knew that I wanted to be a filmmaker and a storyteller. As I grew older I immersed myself in photography and filmmaking. I learned everything I could about camera and lighting but the entire filmmaking process is my passion.