Ellen Ancui
- Writer
- Actress
Ellen is a middlescent, bi-sexual, neuro-diverse, gluten-free, writer for TV, film, podcasts and theater, who hails from NY and lives in LA. She writes "traumedies" and focuses on female protagonists who feel like imposters, desperately trying to fit in - much like her own life. Regardless of genre, Ellen's work explores sexual identity, peppered with mischief and irreverence. Ellen's Catholic, Sicilian mom converted for her German, Jewish dad, but would sneak ham sandwiches to the kids in the garage, so it's no wonder Ellen loves storytelling and food. In New York city, Ellen was a private chef for Oscar-winning writer Horton Foote. He would ask her about food and she would ask him about writing and he ingrained in her that, "It's all about the characters." In NYC, Ellen founded a performance space, Solo Arts Group, Inc. which provided the first home for the original Upright Citizens Brigade (Amy Poehler, Ian Walsh). Conan O'Brien saw them there and the rest is history. Ellen transplanted to Los Angeles after the success of her one-woman shows, Zel Rebels, The Story of a Woman in a (1) Man Show! and Jumping off the Fridge and was staffed on the sitcom, Malcolm & Eddie and credited with writing three episodes. Later, Ellen adopted her Chinese daughter and inadvertently fulfilled her parents' dreams by working in legal for twenty years. Most recently Ellen wrote for the Netflix show, Brown & Friends (Dec. 29, 2022). She's published in a collection of one-act called Guilded with her play Sizzler (Next Stage Press, 2/2023), and is co-producing and co-directing her first short film, Found, in early 2023.