''Ellie Parker'' is a 2005 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

Scott Coffey Scott Coffey (born Thomas Scott Coffey; May 1, 1964) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. His film credits include ''Shag'', '' Some Kind of Wonderful'', ''Dream Lover'', and ''Mulholland Drive''. He directed the films '' E ...

. It stars

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. Known for her work predominantly in independent films with dark or tragic themes, she has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime ...

in the title role, a young woman struggling as an actress in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. ''Ellie Parker'' began as a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

that was screened at the 2001

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Using a handheld digital camera, writer-director Scott Coffey expanded it into a feature-length film at various times over the next four years. It was finally released in 2005.

Plot

''Ellie Parker'' is the story of an Australian actress struggling to make it in Hollywood. Ellie is young enough to still go to auditions back and forth across Los Angeles, changing wardrobes and slapping on makeup en route, but just old enough that the future feels "more like a threat than a promise". She lives with her vacuous musician boyfriend (

Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in '' Dexter'', Jacob in '' Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton H ...

), who leaves her just about as dissatisfied as any other part of her life, and has a loose definition of the word "fidelity". Helping make sense of their surreal and humiliating Hollywood existence is her best friend Sam (

Rebecca Rigg Rebecca Rigg is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in television and film. She started out as a child actor in '' Fatty Finn'' (1980), and was later featured in the films ''Hunting'' (1991), ''Spotswood'' (1992) and '' Ellie P ...

), another out-of-work actress trying her hand at design, who attends acting classes with Ellie to stay sharp. When Ellie gets into a fender bender with a guy who claims he is a cinematographer (

), her perspective on her work and the dating world starts to change.

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

also makes an appearance playing Ellie's agent.

Cast

as Ellie Parker *

as Sam *

as Chris *

as Justin *

as Dennis Swartzbaum *

Jennifer Syme Jennifer Maria Syme (December 7, 1972 – April 2, 2001) was an American actress, personal assistant, and record company executive. Jennifer was in a relationship with actor Keanu Reeves from 1998 until early 2000. Following the stillbirth of ...

as Casting Chick *

Jessicka Jessicka Addams (born Jessica Fodera on October 23, 1975) is an American visual artist and musician. Best known by her stage name Jessicka, she was the frontwoman for the alternative rock band Jack Off Jill, and later for the Noise pop, noise-p ...

as Acting Class Student *

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor and musician. The recipient of numerous accolades in a career on screen spanning four decades, he is known for his leading roles in action films, his amiable public imag ...

as Dogstar bassist (himself)

Production

Watts, Coffey, and Pellegrino all worked together on

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

's ''

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura counties is n ...

'', where Watts had her breakout performance, and ''Ellie Parker'' grew out of the friendship forged between Watts and director and screenwriter Coffey. It was shot on

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

over the course of five years, having begun its life as a series of shorts featuring Watts' character. The film centers on a quote from the prologue to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

'':

O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, ellie_parker
''Ellie Parker'' trailer
2005 films 2005 comedy-drama films 2005 independent films 2000s satirical films American comedy-drama films American independent films American satirical films Features based on short films Films about actors Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles Films directed by Scott Coffey Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles 2005 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films