Written by Malin Evita
*This interview has been edited and condensed. Listen to our full conversation on Spotify: Community Highlights Vol. 2 (timestamp: 26.00)
“I used to always love Barbie films. I would be obsessed with them!” Ellie laughs when I asked her when her love for film began, “Then it kind of got to the stage where I was getting into the behind the scenes of them.” And ever since then, her passion and curiosity of filmmaking has continued to grow – so much so that she is now determined to work in the film industry in the future, and is currently studying Creative Media Production to indulge in the craft and refine her skills.
What does film mean to you?
“It’s definitely the scale of everything,” she says, “how there are so many little jobs that fit into one another, and if you take one out then it doesn’t work at all cos everyone need each other at one point.”
Top 3 Films
Pulp Fiction (1994, dir. Quentin Tarantino), Baby Driver (2017, dir. Edgar Wright), and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, dir. Jim Sharman)
Top 3 Filmmakers
Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, and Sam Levinson
Very recently, she also directed her first short film, Aftermath, as part of her final project at college this last semester. “I’m one of the youngest in my class so it was really weird for me,” she tells me. Initially, being the youngest and having not shot anything before, Ellie found it intimidating to take charge, give orders, and stand in her ground. But after this experience, she recognises just how much more confident she has become – as a person and creative. “I wasn’t getting my hopes up too much, but then when it got to it, when it got to actually film it…” she says, “I have more confidence than I thought.”
Aftermath is a short film about grief, mental health awareness, and reaching out for help when you need it. Watch it here:
As a forever film lover and someone who’s now really getting a taste of the production aspect of cinema, Ellie’s got big plans for her future, and not so far away, career. “As soon as I can drive and get a driver’s license, I am one hundred percent gonna apply to production assistant jobs and set runner jobs and just try to work my way up from there,” she says. “The big goal is definitely to make a film. One hundred percent. I’ve got so many ideas. I’m literally about to write a script!” She tells me passionately, and goes on to talk about how she is sure that her and one of her classmates, and fellow Tarantino fanatic, will put together a movie sometime in the future.
Listen to Ellie talk all about her love for the worldbuilding of filmmaking, Quentin Tarantino, and gaining confidence as a young aspiring filmmaker. Available now on Spotify! Follow and keep up to date with Ellie on Instagram @EllxGracee.
Written by Malin Evita
Evita is the host and producer of the podcast, Instagram curator, and a writer focused on script, cultural commentary, and film analysis. She is a Vocal grand prize winner and currently studies Professional Writing at college. Through storytelling, she aims to amplify empathy and human connectivity.
Website: malinevita.com | IG: @malinevita
Making It: Women in Film 