Ellen has edited two Academy Award nominated documentaries, SPEAKING IN STRINGS, which was also a Grand Jury nominee at the Sundance Film Festival, and ARTISTS AND ORPHANS, which recounted the struggles of a theatrical troupe saving an orphanage for abandoned children in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. She also edited the acclaimed documentary MULE SKINNER BLUES, which was the first theatrical release for The Sundance Channel. Currently receiving distribution is SUNDANCE FINISHING GRANT recipient, STANDING SILENT, a documentary she edited, co-wrote and co-produced which chronicles the story of an Orthodox Jewish reporter who defies his orthodox community when he uncovers a web of sexual abuse involving a popular Baltimore rabbi and his son. She was the lead editor on ANATOMY OF HATE, which is a multiple festival winner and was nominated for Documentary of the Year from the DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL. For the popular documentary VEGUCATED, available on Netflix, she served as editing consultant.
Some other films Ellen has edited are LIVES FOR SALE, a documentary on illegal immigration and human trafficking in the United States as seen on PBS, and the feature film JUST PECK which is currently available on DVD and NETFLIX. It stars Keir Gilchrist (A FUNNY KIND OF STORY, UNITED STATES OF TARA), Academy Award winner Brie Larson (ROOM, SHORT TERM 12) Marcia Cross (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) and Adam Arkin.
She completed editing on A WARRIOR'S HEART, released theatrically December 2011, starring Kellan Lutz, Ashley Green and Chord Overstreet from the very popular TWILIGHT and GLEE. She edited PLAYBACK, a supernatural thriller with Christian Slater and Ambyr Childres (RAY DONOVAN, THE MASTER), released by MAGNOLIA PICTURES in 2012. INDIE WIRE noted it as one of the 10 best horror films of the year to watch for. Ellen also edited IN OUR SON'S NAME, a documentary on restorative justice and the unusual friendship between the mother of Zacharias Moussaoui and Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez who lost their son in the WTC on 9/11. It will air on PBS in September 2016. In 2012, she worked on ROAD TO JUAREZ, starring William Forsyth (BOARDWALK EMPIRE) and Walter Perez (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS). She also co-produced, wrote and edited WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I SAID I WOULD BE HAPPY, a documentary following the lives of orphaned children who survived the Rwandan genocide, and the methods of healing they are employing in trauma. In addition to editing hundreds of promos and interstitials for major networks, she has also edited programs for HBO, Bravo, The Discovery Channel, Cinemax, CBS, NBC, TBS, CN, and SHOWTIME. She recently completed editing of the Chinese western, THE JADE PENDANT.
Ellen is an honors graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she was the first woman to win the prestigious directing award for Best Undergraduate Narrative Film. The film, which she also wrote, was a MOBILE AWARD FINALIST which screened at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and continued to enjoy a four-year run on SHOWTIME and PBS.
In addition to her editing career, Ellen enjoys sailing, hiking, swimming, playing with and petting dogs of all breeds, friendship and good conversation, exploring and learning about different cultures, traveling to national parks, hiking The Narrows of Zion, and evading bears at Glacier. One of her favorite pastimes sitting on the porch of her family’s lake house in Georgia and watching thunderstorms roll in.