Creative Producer | Director | Storyteller
As a visual artist and storyteller, Steph Elmer is best known for her simple, uncomplicated design work and for crafting meaningful content that engages the imagination through space, movement and light. Her creative career has taken her from the world of music and to brand advertising, television and food, always driven by a curiosity for people, places and the stories that bring them to life.
Steph began her career as a producer for Prince, developing the artist’s still and motion content at Paisley Park Studios and traveling internationally with him on tour. She went on to produce, art direct and direct more than 300 commercials and print photography campaigns for an eclectic roster of brands including Sonya Dakar, Versace, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, GUCCI, Macy’s, Diet Coke and Chinese Laundry.
A lifelong foodie and self-described recipe guru, Steph turned her passion for food and storytelling into another unexpected chapter in her creative career, serving as Chef Guy Fieri’s senior casting producer and scout. Her research and scouting helped shape the people, places and stories featured in Emmy Award-nominated specials and popular Food Network productions, including the hit series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. With an instinct for finding compelling characters and authentic stories, she brought a visual storyteller’s eye to the development research, casting and scouting process.
Her background in advertising, art direction, music and television, combined with early training as an actor at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood and a filmmaking internship at the American Film Institute, continues to inform her creative practice. Moving comfortably between disciplines, Steph has built a body of work that is eclectic yet distinctly her own—rooted in restraint, curiosity and an ability to create something meaningful from very little.