OtherAK - Producer Bios

Elise Pepple is currently the General Manager of Marfa public radio. She relocated from Alaska to Portland in 2012 to attend The Salt Institute. Her twin sister spurred this development when she exclaimed, "Elise! What are you doing living on a rock in the middle of the ocean?!" Over the last ten years Elise has gotten to work with some of her favorite non-profits. She ran after school programs at The Grand Street Settlement in New York City, facilitated StoryCorps' Alaska Initiative, worked as an eductaor for Planned Parenthood, and now coordinates volunteers at SPACE. Her other lives include: radio host, park ranger, and librarian. She only works on things that begin w the letter "s": storytelling, socially engaged art, and social work. She is a Creative Community Fellow with National Art Strategies and is pursuing a master's degree in social work. In her spare time she hosts a bi-monthly live storytelling series called Hear Tell, and is collaborating with Ayumi Horie on a public art project called Portland Brick, a project building public memory.

Ellen Frankenstein is a filmmaker, media educator and artist who  likes to stir things up. She as Elise often quotes likes “social cliffs.” Ellen came to Sitka, Alaska to make a documentary film in collaboration with an anthropologist about 20 years ago, married a fisherman and stayed. Her film credits include: “No Loitering,” “Carved from the Heart,” “Eating Alaska” and “Tracing Roots.”  Ellen feels that the role of documentary film is to move the furniture around so people see what is there and what they’d rather sweep under the carpet. Part of that thinking has led to an emphasis on not just what you make, but how you use it. Ellen encourages people to create events and use films to see what is next. She also works as an artist in the schools, directs the non-profit Artchange, Inc. and works on community art projects from murals and installations to zines and dances.