Elissa Dauria Smith is a book scout with 15 years in the industry. Since founding Evolving Story Book Scouting in 2021, Elissa has worked with Elizabeth Banks, Paul Feig, Keshet Studios, and BET Studios sourcing high quality books and other IP. She was previously in-house at Lionsgate & Starz working with all film/TV divisions and producers during the acquisition of several high-profile books, including QUEENIE by Candice Carty-Williams, AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING (the CARLS series) by Hank Green, and LONDON by Jo Nesbo. Prior to Lionsgate, she was an associate scout at Maximum Films, sourcing material for Amblin, NBC, Neil Moritz, Illumination, and others. She previously worked in development at Sony TV and 3 Arts Entertainment.