Semifinalist, Everard Entertainment + Roadmap Writers' Short Story Competition (2026)
BIO
Ellen Ancui is a WGA/AWD, award-winning, neurodiverse, bi, “middlescent” writer/director who specializes in traumadies—darkly funny stories where women dig their own graves, then complain about the landscaping. A Long Island kid raised by a Sicilian mom who converted for her Jewish dad but still snuck ham sandwiches into the garage, Ellen was basically destined to tell complicated stories and overfeed people.
A former private chef to fancy people like Horton Foote, Ellen founded SOLO ARTS GROUP in NYC and accidentally gave the original Upright Citizens Brigade their first home (you’re welcome, comedy). After two successful one-woman shows, she moved to LA, wrote for MALCOLM & EDDIE, and had her play GLORY PIE sell out at the Coronet with love letters from Variety.
Her other credits include BROWN & FRIENDS (Netflix), SIZZLER (Next Stage Press), and FILTHY MILFS, a weekly podcast about sex, wellness, and aging (dis)gracefully. Her directorial debut, the short film SAVERIO, won 4 audience festival awards—plus the Grand Prize at the Jeonju International Film Festival, Korea—and earned her a New York Women in Film & TV excellence in directing award. She is currently developing the feature of SAVERIO, because apparently one award-winning film about “granny dumping” just isn’t enough.
