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Elyusha Vafaeisefat is a lecturer in the Department of Film & Electronic Arts at Cal State, Long Beach.

A producer, filmmaker, and educator. In addition to ºÚÁÏÍø, he has taught filmmaking and media studies courses at UCLA, Fullerton College, El Camino College, Chaffey College, and other film schools throughout Southern California. He has also served as a guest lecturer at institutions and events across Europe and led collaborative annual international film and media workshops with students at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

He has directed, written, produced, and developed feature films, short films, documentaries, commercials, and music videos. His films have screened across festivals in New York, Los Angeles and Santa Barabra as well as in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands. Most recently, he produced The Painter, an Academy Award-shortlisted short film that premiered internationally in London and domestically at the LA Shorts Film Festival. His latest feature film as a producer, Filthy Animals, was distributed theatrically and later acquired by Amazon Prime Video. He also serves as a judge for prominent film and media arts programs, including the Newport Beach Film Festival and the CSU Media Arts Festival. At ºÚÁÏÍø, he has also served as a faculty judge for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Grant, supporting and evaluating student work. He has also collaborated with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sean Baker and the Gardena Cinema on student-oriented screenings, events, and workshops, creating opportunities for emerging filmmakers to engage with cinema and industry professionals.

In addition to producing, he has worked in story development, marketing, international sales, and distribution for several studios and production companies, including NBC Universal as well as Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary’s Revelations Entertainment. He has also consulted on and co-developed projects for Netflix and ESPNs acclaimed 30 for 30 series.