Biography

Elaine McMillion Sheldon is an Academy Award-nominated, Peabody-winning, and two-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker from Logan County, West Virginia. Her films explore life in Appalachia through personal and political lenses, covering topics such as coal’s cultural legacy, the opioid crisis, rural deindustrialization, incarceration, and environmental justice. Her latest feature documentary, KING COAL, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick and one of the year’s best documentaries by Esquire and Marie Claire. The film screened at over 40 international festivals, had a 50-city theatrical run, and aired nationally on PBS’ POV in 2024. Sheldon directed two Netflix Original Documentaries, HEROIN(E) and RECOVERY BOYS, both focused on addiction and recovery in West Virginia. HEROIN(E) was nominated for a 2018 Academy Award and won a News & Documentary Emmy. Her other notable works include TUTWILER (PBS Frontline & The Marshall Project), COAL’S DEADLY DUST (Frontline & NPR), and the interactive project HOLLOW, which won a Peabody Award. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, Creative Capital Awardee, USA Fellow, and was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2024. Her work has been supported by Field of Vision, The New York Times Op-Docs, TEDWomen, and others. She has appeared on The Daily Show, Meet the Press, and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Sheldon earned her B.S. in journalism from West Virginia University and her M.F.A. from Emerson College. She lives in West Virginia with her husband and collaborator Curren Sheldon, with whom she co-runs Grounded Theory, a creative studio rooted in the Appalachian Mountains.