About Speaker

Elena Mannes is a multi-award-winning news and documentary Director/Producer and Writer. Her television work has appeared on both public and commercial television. Her honors include six national Emmys, a George Foster Peabody Award, two Directors Guild of America Awards, and nine Cine Golden Eagles.

Mannes’s career has encompassed an exceptional range of work – from commercial network hard news, magazine shows and long-form programs to public television and cable documentaries. She has senior produced for both commercial and public TV.

Mannes’ productions include the feature documentary film Amazing Grace (PBS), which won the Directors Guild Award as well as an Emmy for directing. She has also directed, produced, and written numerous hour-length documentaries for CBS News and ABC News. She co-directed with Peter Jones, the film The Rising Tide of Silence about Father Thomas Keating.

Mannes developed, produced, and directed the primetime PBS special, THE MUSIC INSTINCT: SCIENCE & SONG, a co-production with WNET/Thirteen. She was also co-Executive Producer as well as Director/Writer/Producer of the two-hour program, which aired on PBS in June 2009. THE MUSIC INSTINCT was honored with the Grand Prix at the Paris cience International Film Festival and the BANFF award for best Science & Technology program.

Mannes is a published author. Her first book, The Power of Music: Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song, was published by Walker Books/Bloomsbury USA (2011). Soul Dog: A Journey into the Spiritual Life of Animals was published by Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. in 2018.