About Elisar
By Ian Powell (Expanded from his "Other Lives" piece for The Guardian
My friend Elisar Cabrera, was a film producer, director, web series pioneer, video journalist, a key teacher at Raindance, and a wrestling producer.
Elisar presenting Ibiza Undead at Frightfest
I first met Elisar in 1994 at the New Producers Alliance, an eclectic mix of young filmmakers such as Edgar Wright, who would go on to do great things. Despite his young age, Elisar had an immediately striking assurance and gentleness that marked him out from his peers. Elisar directed and produced many movies in his career, but like most of us realised that the production of full-length independent features is a challenge. As a man with many interests, he thus diversified into TV, and particularly into the web, and was very much a pioneer of the web series, passing on his enthusiasm and knowledge to young filmmakers, through his work at Raindance.
Born in London, Elisar was the son of the author Caroline Kennedy and the artist Ben Cabrera. He went to St. Paul’s school and would travel to LA during school holidays to help out on film productions, including Cool Blue (1990), which was produced by his cousin, Cassian Elwes.
Elisar the keen fan (early 90's)
Elisar on the crew of The Chase in LA 1994)
Elisar and Iain McCaig (of Industrial Light Magic (ILM) at Iain's house in Wilshire.
Although his family came from a film-making tradition (his uncle Elliot Kastner had produced Where Eagles Dare), Elisar found his own way into the business. He lived in LA in his early 20s and worked on The Man With Three Arms (1991, released in the US as The Dark Backward) – his duties included helping James Caan rehearse his lines – and The Chase (1994). Although he had further opportunities in the US, he wanted to help young British independent film-makers and became heavily involved with the New Producers Alliance in the UK.
He directed his own low-budget films, Demonsoul (1995) and Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft (1998), and he and I collaborated on Virtual Terror (1996). But Elisar’s interests went far beyond horror films and he worked as a film sales agent, while reviewing movies for the Sci-fi channel and creating the web series Those Video Guys.
Demonsoul producer Matthew Devlen, Raindance founder Elliot Grove and Elisar at Raindance in the 2000's
Elisar directed his first film when just 22 in 1995
Elisar producing the portmanteau horror film Virtual Terror (1995)
Elisar's second film as director for the Witchraft Franchise in (1998)
Elisar had a passion for pro wrestling and helped revive the British wrestling scene in the late 90s. As co-owner of the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, he brought a new wave of independent US wrestlers to British fans, staging and promoting live shows all over the UK. His mother recalls “stumbling over their immense bodies that slept on my living room floor and on my sofas” and carrying back the championship belts from the US in her luggage.
He also reintroduced wrestling to TV, writing and producing Revival: The Search for the King of England for Bravo (2002). This is where he met the writer, Lisa Gifford. They married in 2006 and collaborated on many projects including the award-winning web series 3some (2013) and the shorts SuperMum, Beryl, and The Conductor.
Later, working at Raindance, Elisar was a huge advocate of online filmmaking, founding the Raindance Web Fest, the World’s first festival for independent digital and web series, and co-founding Digital Creators UK. He will be remembered by many young filmmakers for his encouragement and advice on all aspects of film-making. Digital projects included: Talking Who, Who’s Changing and Mina Murray’s Journal. Elisar also produced the web series section of MCM Comic Con. All together a career total of 34 productions. A skillful chess player and keen board gamer, one of Elisar’s unfinished projects is Board Game: The Documentary.
Elisar at the British Independent Film Awards
Photo: Sue Foll
His many feature film-producing credits include Deadly Virtues: Love.Honour.Obey. (2014), Ibiza Undead (2016) and The Bromley Boys (2018). Elisar was a passionate believer in the EU and many political causes. One of his final projects was Postcards from the 48% (2018), made by and featuring those who voted Remain.
In an industry where large egos are not unheard of, Elisar was refreshing for his humility and his great good sense. He was the first person I would call about any new project because I knew he would give me an honest answer on its practicality, based on his vast experience but also that he would get behind it with passion on the road to getting it made. Elisar bravely fought a four-year battle with cancer and died in July 2020 at the tragically young age of 49.
Elisar's mother Caroline and sisters Mayumi and Jasmine have planted a Jacaranda tree in his memory on the old MGM lot where Tarzan swam with Jane and where Showboat was filmed. Completing the circle Cary Elwes gave a beautiful Eulogy. The tree and its vivid purple blooms are a permanent Hollywood reminder of Elisar's creative spirit and this award commemorates his wish to help young filmmakers fulfill their creative dreams.
Bio by Ian Powell (Expanded from his "Other Lives" piece for The Guardian)