Elise Pearlstein

Executive Vice President

Before joining This Machine,  Elise Pearlstein was SVP, Documentary Film, at Participant where since 2013 she oversaw the company’s robust slate of documentaries from development to release, including the 2020 Oscar®-winning American Factory acquired by Netflix as the first release for Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. As a producer, Pearlstein received an Oscar® nomination and won two Emmys for the 2009 documentary Food, Inc.

Pearlstein’s projects, ranging from feature documentaries and limited documentary series to shorts and VR have premiered at Sundance, the Toronto International Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Tribeca, SXSW and beyond, and have been released theatrically, on premium broadcasters and streamers. Pearlstein is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and served on the board of the International Documentary Association.