Simon Ellis (film director)
Encyclopedia
Simon Ellis is a British film director.
Ellis graduated from Nottingham Trent University
in 1995, specialising in Fine Art photography
. After completing his BA he began writing and directing short films
on an independent basis and over the next ten years received numerous international film festival
awards while occasionally directing music video
s and television shows. His short film Soft won thirty-seven awards including the International Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
, Best Short Film at the British Independent Film Awards
, and a BAFTA
nomination. Retrospectives of his catalogue have been presented at several film festivals worldwide and Ellis continues to make shorts despite beginning a career in feature films.
on fellow students' film projects, Ellis wrote a handful of short scripts and started working as a volunteer at the now-defunct Intermedia Film and Video in Nottingham, providing access to camera and editing facilities. During this period he also freelanced as a storyboard artist and occasional graphic design
er, learning his filmmaking craft independently as the DV format was introduced and consumer editing facilities became affordable. He then made his films on a full-time basis while working as camera operator or editor on an abundance of commissioned short films within Nottingham's thriving scene.
Ellis graduated from Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University is a public teaching and research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as a new university in 1992 from the existing Trent Polytechnic , however it can trace its roots back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design...
in 1995, specialising in Fine Art photography
Fine art photography
Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer as artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual account for news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to...
. After completing his BA he began writing and directing short films
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
on an independent basis and over the next ten years received numerous international film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
awards while occasionally directing music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s and television shows. His short film Soft won thirty-seven awards including the International Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, Best Short Film at the British Independent Film Awards
British Independent Film Awards
The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...
, and a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
nomination. Retrospectives of his catalogue have been presented at several film festivals worldwide and Ellis continues to make shorts despite beginning a career in feature films.
Background
At the age of sixteen, Ellis shot and processed his first black and white photographs, slowly drifting away from charcoal and paintbrushes to the camera as his format of choice. Throughout his subsequent art studies in Coventry, Birmingham and eventually Nottingham, he focused on stills photography. After graduating, and having worked as a camera operatorCamera operator
A camera operator or cameraman is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In filmmaking, the leading cameraman is usually called a cinematographer, while a cameraman in a video production may be known as a television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on...
on fellow students' film projects, Ellis wrote a handful of short scripts and started working as a volunteer at the now-defunct Intermedia Film and Video in Nottingham, providing access to camera and editing facilities. During this period he also freelanced as a storyboard artist and occasional graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
er, learning his filmmaking craft independently as the DV format was introduced and consumer editing facilities became affordable. He then made his films on a full-time basis while working as camera operator or editor on an abundance of commissioned short films within Nottingham's thriving scene.
Selected filmography
- Thousand (1998) (5mins)
- Telling Lies (2000) (5mins)
- Doing Really Well (2001) (3mins)
- Bass Invaders (2001) (5mins)
- 10 Again (2002) (10mins)
- What about the Bodies (2002) (7mins)
- What The (2004) (7mins)
- A Storm and some Snow (2006) (2mins)
- Soft (2007) (14mins)
- Dogging: A Love Story (2009) (103mins)