When she turned eighteen, she legally changed her surname from Harrison to Alibar, a portmanteau of her mother and grandmother's first names (Barbara and Alice), since "they both worked so hard and cultivated so much of their own happiness [and] I wanted to have that like an amulet.
"[3] Alibar attended New York University in Manhattan, where she studied under the Tisch School of the Arts' experimental theatre program.
[2] After graduating from NYU, she continued to live on New York's Lower East Side, working multiple jobs as a sandwich maker, bartender and waitress while writing plays in her free time.
[3] She showed the completed script to her longtime friend, filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, who suggested that they adapt the play into a film.
After the script was completed, Alibar moved to Louisiana to assist in the production of the film, titled Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was being directed by Zeitlin.