Lolis Eric Elie (born April 10, 1963) is an American writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and food historian best known for his work as story editor of the HBO drama '' Treme'' and story editor of AMC's ''

Hell on Wheels Hell on Wheels was the itinerant collection of flimsily assembled gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that followed the army of Union Pacific railroad workers westward as they constructed the First transcontinental railroad in 186 ...

''.

Early life and education

Elie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Lolis Edward Elie, a civil rights attorney and Dr. Gerri Elie, a school principal and university professor. He has an older sister, Migel Elizabeth Elie. Elie is an alumnus of the

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA, is the regional, pre-professional arts training center for high school students in Louisiana. NOCCA opened in 1973 as a professional arts training center for secondary school-age children. Locate ...

(NOCCA) and a 1981 graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School. He went on to attend the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

where he graduated in 1985 with a B.S. in Finance and Economics. In 1986 he received his M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, later becoming Alumnus of the Year in 2012. After graduating from Columbia University, Elie went on to receive an MFA in creative writing from

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

Career

Elie began his career as a business reporter for the '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. He then went on to become the road manager for jazz musician

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

. In 1995 he became a columnist and reporter for the New Orleans ''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

''. During this time he wrote several books, including ''Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country'', a book that gained a cult-like following among food enthusiasts. Elie also wrote and produced the award-winning documentary '' Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans'' (2008), which premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

, was a winner at the 2008

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

, and which made its TV debut on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in 2009. After leaving the ''Times Picayune'' in 2009, Elie became the story editor for HBO's '' Treme''. He wrote the episodes "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say", "Shame, Shame, Shame" and "Santa Claus, Do You Ever Get the Blues?" for which he won an NAACP Award. In 2013, Elie moved to Los Angeles where he became the executive story editor for AMC's ''

''. His work has appeared in the ''New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Saveur'', ''Gourmet, Bon Appétit'', and ''Smithsonian'' magazine and he has been featured on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, CBS News, and '' 60 Minutes''. His work is included in ''Best African American Essays'' and ''Best Food Writing: 2008''. He is also a contributing editor to the ''Oxford American''. Elie has been featured several times on

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

's '' No Reservations'' and ''

The Layover A layover is a point where a vehicle stops, with passengers possibly changing vehicle. Layover may also refer to: * ''Layover'' (novel), a 1999 novel by Lisa Zeidner * ''The Layover'' (TV series), an American travel and food show *''The Layover E ...

'', both hosted by Anthony Bourdain. Elie is one of the founders of the

Southern Foodways Alliance Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) is an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, dedicated to the documentation, study and exploration of the foodways of the American South. Member-funded, it stage ...

. On July 23, 2013, his book ''Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans'' was released. ''Saveur'' named the book as one of the Best July Food Books.

Works

Television and film

* 1997 "Postcards from New Orleans" segment on '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', correspondent * 2001 ''Smokestack Lightning: A Day in the Life of Barbecue'' (documentary), producer * 2006 ''By Invitation Only'', project advisor * 2008 ''My 1st Time: Tribeca Film Festival'' (TV short), himself * 2008 '' Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans'' (documentary), writer and co-producer * 2008 ''After Hours with Daniel Boulud'', himself * 2010 "Shame, Shame, Shame" ( HBO's '' Treme'', season 1, episode 5), writer * 2011 ''Treme'', story editor, 10 episodes * 2011 "Santa Claus, Do You Ever Get the Blues?" (''Treme'', season 2, episode 4), writer * 2011 "That's What Lovers Do" (''Treme'', season 2, episode 10), actor * 2011 "Cajun Country" (

's '' Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'', season 7, episode 16), himself * 2012 "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say" (''Treme'', season 3, episode 5), writer * 2012 ''NOLAbound'' (documentary), narrator * 2013

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's ''

'', executive story editor, 10 episodes * 2013 "One Less Mule" (''Hell on Wheels'', season 3, episode 6), co-writer * 2013

's '' Soul Food Junkies'' (''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence H ...

'' documentary), himself * 2013 "The Paper" '' 60 Minutes'', himself * 2013 ''Super Bowl 2013 Pregame Special: New Orleans, Let the Good Times Roll'', himself * 2014 ''Old South, New South'' (short film), himself * 2016

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ra ...

's ''

Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

'', co-producer, 4 episodes * 2017 "Changing Season" ( Oprah Winfrey Network's '' Greenleaf'' season 2, episode 11), writer * 2018 "That Was Then" (''Greenleaf'' season 3, episode 7), writer * 2018 "Fried Chicken" (

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

's ''

Ugly Delicious ''Ugly Delicious'' is a non-fiction original series on Netflix combining travel, cooking, and history. Each episode highlights one dish or concept, and explores how it is made in different regions and how it evolves. The first season premiered o ...

'' season 1, episode 6), himself * 2018 "Zakarian vs. Darin" (

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...

's '' Iron Chef America'' season 13, episode 3), himself * 2018 ''Gumbo'' (documentary), himself * 2019 Amazon Prime Video's ''

The Man in the High Castle ''The Man in the High Castle'' (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the political intrigues b ...

'', supervising producer, 10 episodes * 2019 "All Serious Daring" (''The Man in the High Castle'' season 4, episode 6), writer * 2020

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's ''

The Chi ''The Chi'' ( ) is an American drama television series created by Lena Waithe about life in a neighborhood on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago. The pilot was directed by Rick Famuyiwa. It premiered on Showtime (TV network), Showti ...

'' supervising producer, 10 episodes * 2020 "Buss Down" (''The Chi'' season 3, episode 3), writer * 2020 ''Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America'' (documentary), himself and historical advisor * 2020 ''A Crime on the Bayou'' (documentary), himself and consultant * 2021 Amazon Prime Video's '' Bosch'', co-executive producer, 8 episodes * 2021 "Triple Play" (''Bosch'' season 7, episode 4), writer

Books

* ''Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country'' (1996); re-published in 2005 * ''Cornbread Nation 2: The United States of Barbecue'', editor (2004) * ''Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans'' (2013) * ''Rodney Scott's World of BBQ'', co-author (2021)

Short fiction and essays

* "Silent Spaces", short fiction in ''That's What I Like (About the South)'' (1993) * "Leah Chase", essay in '' Cornbread Nation 1: The Best of Southern Food Writing'' (2002) * "A Letter from New Orleans", essay in ''Best Food Writing 2006'' * ''Prospect. 1 New Orleans'' (2008) * ''Then … Absence'', prefatory note (2008) * "Here They Come, There They Go", essay in ''Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas'' (2013) * ''After: the Silence of the Lower 9th Ward'', preface (2014)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elie, Lolis Eric 1963 births Living people American documentary film producers Food historians Writers from New Orleans Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Virginia alumni African-American film producers American television writers American cookbook writers Screenwriters from Louisiana Film producers from Louisiana 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people