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Kirk Ellis
Writer, Producer
Faculty
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Biography
Santa Fe-based writer/producer Kirk Ellis won two Emmys and the Humanitas Prize for his work on John Adams starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Ellis wrote and co-executive produced the seven-part HBO miniseries, which is based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. The miniseries scored a record 23 nominations, second only to Roots in Emmy history, and won a record breaking 13 Emmys in total, as well as four Golden Globe awards. Ellis has also received a Writers Guild of America nomination for his script.
Ellis will continue his association with McCullough and the American Revolution on his next project for HBO, 1776. Like Adams, the miniseries will be produced with Tom Hanks' Playtone Co. In addition Ellis is adapting the James Ellroy novel "American Tabloid" as a series for Playtone and HBO.
For the big screen, Ellis is working on the feature project Blood and Thunder, an epic drama of Kit Carson and the Navajo Wars, and Escape, the true story of Carolyn Jessop, who escaped from a plural marriage in a fundamentalist Mormon compound under the leadership of Warren Jeffs. Katherine Heigl will star and produce under her Abishag banner along with Michael Menchel of Relevant Entertainment.
Ellis' collaboration with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks brought him the Western Writers of America's Golden Spur Award for Best Drama Script for Hell on Wheels, an episode of the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated TNT/DreamWorks miniseries Into the West on which Ellis served as supervising producer and writer. He also received the Wrangler Award for Best Television Feature from the National Western Heritage Museum for his work on the miniseries.
Previously Ellis received an Emmy nomination and won the Writers Guild of America and the Humanitas Prize for the ABC miniseries Anne Frank which he wrote and co-produced. Additional credits include writing the award-winning ABC miniseries The Beach Boys: An American Family, co-executive producing Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (which earned him a Critics' Choice Award) and writing The Three Stooges telefilm.
Ellis made his feature film debut writing and co-producing The Grass Harp based on the coming-of-age novel by Truman Capote. He has also collaborated on projects with such esteemed directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Roland Joffe and William Friedkin.
Screenwriting Symposium Events
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Academy Lab
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Kirk Ellis' Academy Lab
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Lab Description:
For advanced screenwriters only: a 12-hour intensive on theory and practical applications as they pertain to structure, characterization, and market viability of your present or envisioned screenwriting effort.
Note: Academy Labs are limited to fifteen attendees who have met specific criteria. Contact the SCSFe office (866.424.1501) for admittance criteria.
Academy Lab
- All Academy Labs include twelve hours of instruction spread over
a three day period.
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Panel Description:
Our Mentors convene for a lively discussion on the pros and cons, ins and outs, and ups and downs of showbiz as it relates to screenwriters. SCSFe Staff and Faculty member Darren Foster will moderate. The panel will discuss their POV about the art and craft of screenwriting and will take questions from the audience.
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