Biography
Justin Marshall Elias is a Hollywood-based actor and composer from California. As an actor, he has appeared in feature and short films, commercials, webisodes, and earned critical acclaim for his stage performances. An award-winning composer, Elias has crafted music and sound design for feature films, shorts, documentaries, TV commercials, and corporate multimedia projects, as well as releasing several ambient albums under the name "Dendroid."
Born in Palo Alto, California, Elias grew up in nearby Fremont before moving with his family to Eagle, Idaho, at age eight. Passionate about acting from a young age, he was especially drawn to sci-fi films and enjoyed improvising scenes and developing characters. This passion led him to create experimental films during middle and high school, in which he also acted.
Elias’s interest in music began in middle school, continuing through high school where he played alto saxophone in the marching band. Near the end of high school, he started working with the digital audio workstation FL Studio (formerly FruityLoops), a pattern-based music sequencer with a graphical interface. By his senior year, he had mastered professional broadcasting and filmmaking software and hardware, leading to a role as technical director at an audiovisual and presentation technology company. Electronic music served as his entry point into music creation.
After high school, Elias enrolled at Boise State University but transferred in his sophomore year to Montana State University, one of the nation's top five film schools, to pursue filmmaking. He scored numerous student films and received multiple awards and nominations for film composition and sound design. In his senior year, he composed scores for four short and feature films, including the original score for the short "Water's Handle Music," which won the Medallion Award at the 2009 Washougal International Film Festival. After graduating, Elias briefly returned to Idaho, where he played “Garry Lejeune” in the play "Noises Off" at StageCoach Theatre, winning the 2011 Masque Award for Best Actor. During the play’s run, he was cast in two TV commercials. Moving to Los Angeles in 2010, Elias pursued both composing and acting while also working in production for companies such as Syfy Channel, Jim Henson, and the Food Network.
Recognized for his ability to create emotionally resonant film scores, Elias has attracted producers and directors and become a sought-after composer known for his stylistic versatility and expertise in electronic composition. His collaborative approach with directors when composing to picture further enhances his appeal.
