Born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Central New Jersey and Central Pennsylvania, Ellen started writing fiction at an early age. She grew up performing in community and regional theater and earned a BFA in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Shortly after college, Ellen wrote, produced, and starred in her first short film, which premiered at Arlene’s Grocery Picture Show in lower Manhattan.

After moving to Los Angeles, Ellen continued acting and graduated from Second City Hollywood’s Conservatory program, where she studied and performed improv and sketch comedy. She continued performing improv with various teams for nine years. Ellen’s first screenplay, Ronnie & Starr, made the top 15% of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, was a finalist in the Moondance International Film Festival’s screenwriting contest, and a quarterfinalist in the Scriptapalooza screenplay contest.

In 2014, Ellen was diagnosed with Lyme disease after a long illness. Although Lyme can be treated successfully if it’s caught early, in the ten months it took her to get a diagnosis, her Lyme became chronic, causing severe joint pain, nausea, and fatigue, among other symptoms. She had to quit acting and improv, but she continued writing. The next year, her sitcom pilot Hipster’s Paradise won the Acclaim TV Scriptwriting Contest for Pilot/Movie of the Week and had two staged readings at comedy festivals in Los Angeles.

In 2018, Ellen graduated first in her class from UCLA Extension’s Paralegal program and started working as a paralegal. The next year, she wrote, produced, and directed a comedic hip hop music video, Pay Attention (for Lyme Disease Prevention), which won two awards in the Best Shorts Competition and two awards in the Accolade Global Film Competition.

In 2022, Ellen wrote and produced the dark comedy, Lyme Disease: The Musical, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles. The show was nominated for two Robby Awards and five Broadway World Los Angeles Awards, including Best New Play or Musical, and the script was a finalist in the StageCraft Stage Play Writing Competition. A video of the production is available on Prime Video, Youtube, and Vimeo. Ellen also produced Lyme Disease: The Musical (Original Cast Album), which is available on most music streaming platforms.

Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their many pets. She volunteers for Writegirl as a creative writing mentor to a teen girl and for Center for Lyme Action as a community volunteer who lobbies congress for more federal funding for Lyme disease research and education.