| Ellen Novack A producer, casting director, director, coach and teacher, Ellen has been in the entertainment business for over 30 years. She began her career as an actress and then became a casting director, working for five years with Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival where she cast over 25 major projects, including the Broadway productions of Plenty with Kate Nelligan and The Mystery of Edwin Drood with Betty Buckley and Cleo Laine. She was the Casting Director for the daytime drama Another World and, more recently, One Life to Live for which she won two Artios Awards for Best Soap Casting. On both shows, she gave early jobs to Anne Heche (when she was 17), Ryan Phillippe (when he was 14) and Hayden Panettiere (when she was 4!). She cast the show for four years, and then accepted the job of Producer. She produced One Life for three years. Between her soap opera assignments, Ellen ran her own casting office where she cast TV pilots, independent films and worked for most of the larger regional theatres in the country, including The Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, The Goodman Theatre, and The Hartford Stage Company. She was also the Managing Director of the Classic Stage Company in New York City. |
Ellen is the co-founder of ActorLaunch, a consultation service for actors in New York City or Los Angeles who are just starting their careers or hoping to get help moving a career that has stalled. She continues to cast (most recently, CBS nighttime series, Redemption), produces films independently, directs film and theatre, and is a Lecturer at the Yale School of Drama, where she teaches Film Acting Technique and Professional Preparation to third year graduate acting students. She also teaches at The Juilliard School, American Conservatory Theatre, and The New School. The first film she directed and co-wrote, Psychoanalysis Changed My Life can currently be seen on IFCTV and was the Official Selection at eleven film festivals in the US and Canada. It was the winner of The Audience Award and the Story/Screenplay Award at The Crested Butte Reelfest, and it was the recipient of a Finishing Grant from NY Women in Film & Television. Her second short, The Getaway, is currently in pre-production. She is a member of NY Women in Film & Television and the Independent Feature Project. |
