ELLEN ANCUI
Director/Writer/Producer

Ellen is an award-winning WGA middlescent, neuro-diverse, bi writer for TV, film, theater and podcasts. Her special sauce, “traumadies,” is a mix of Catskills schtick blended with a feminist edge--an attempt to gut-punch you while you’re laughing. She considers herself “Asian-adjacent” given that her daughter is adopted from China, and her partner is half Chinese, half Japanese. Most of her protagonists are Asian headstrong women, who dig their own graves then resist climbing out until the dirt is kicked in their faces. Raised on Long Island, Ellen’s Sicilian mom converted for her Jewish dad, but would sneak ham sandwiches to the kids in the garage, so it’s no wonder Ellen loves storytelling and food. Ellen worked as a private chef in NYC and cooked for Oscar-winning writer Horton Foote and other luminaries. Ellen also founded a theater, SOLO ARTS GROUP, and gave the original Upright Citizens Brigade (Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Matt Besser & Ian Roberts) their first home. She moved to LA after the success of 2, one-woman shows, ZEL REBELS! THE STORY OF A WOMAN IN A (1) MAN SHOW (Public Fringe) and JUMPING OFF THE FRIDGE (HBO Workspace). She was a staffed on the sitcom, MALCOLM & EDDIE and her play GLORY PIE was sold-out at the Coronet Theater with rave reviews from Variety. Other professional credits: BROWN & FRIENDS (Netflix), SIZZLER (Next Stage Press) and is the creator of the podcast, FILTHY MILFS (Spotify summer 2025). SAVERIO won the 2025 Audience Award for Best Short at both The Phoenix Film Festival and The Mirada Corta Shortsfest CDMX. She’s developing the feature version of SAVERIO and seeking investors.

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