Ladd Ehlinger Jr. (born August 21, 1968 in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. He is the director and animator of the 2007 film ''

Flatland ''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions'' is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884 by Seeley & Co. of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dime ...

'' as well as a creator of numerous political videos promoting a

libertarian conservative Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and, more rarely, ''conservatarianism'', is a Political philosophy, political and social philosophy that combines Conservatism in the United States, conservatism and Li ...

viewpoint, some of which have become highly controversial and reached viral levels of publicity. On his website, he compares himself to

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...

and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. He also hosts a radio talk show in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

''Flatland''

In 2007, Ehlinger directed, animated and edited the film ''Flatland'', which is based on

Edwin Abbott Abbott Edwin Abbott Abbott (20 December 1838 – 12 October 1926) was an English schoolmaster, theology, theologian, and Anglican priest, best known as the author of the novella ''Flatland'' (1884). Early life and education Edwin Abbott Abbott ...

's novella of the same name. The film takes place on a two-dimensional world inhabited by intelligent polygons, most of whom refuse to acknowledge the existence of a third dimension. "The story follows its hero A Square, who inhabits a world that is completely flat and two-dimensional. A mysterious visitor from the third dimension arrives, bent on spreading the gossip about another dimension called height. A Square is taken out of Flatland and transported to the 3D universe. In so doing, the very fabric of space-time itself is placed at risks, potentially destroying all of creation." "Flatland" was widely reviewed and received critical acclaim as an independent, innovative film.

''Hive Mind''

In 2010, Ehlinger released another full-length film, more overtly political than the last. This film, ''Hive Mind'', centers on a conservative talk radio host who is the last "normal" human in a world otherwise inhabited entirely by zombies who are part of the "Hive Mind" of the title.

Political videos

Ehlinger has created numerous

viral videos Viral videos are videos that become popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Hauptma ...

, including a video of a dancing

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...

between disco balls, an ad portraying

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

as the

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West, a fictional character in the classic children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) by the American author L. Frank Baum, is the evil ruler of the Winkie Country, the western region in the Land of Oz. ...

an ad promoting Dale Peterson's candidacy for agriculture commissioner in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and an anti-

Janice Hahn Janice Kay Hahn (born March 30, 1952) is an American politician serving as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from the 4th district since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a U.S. Representative from California ...

ad portraying the congressional candidate with red eyes and as a

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events. Modern forms of stripping m ...

who gyrates while two black rappers grab dollar bills out of her panties and chant "Give us your cash, bitch". The ad focused on Janice Hahn's promotion of a taxpayer-funded program in Los Angeles that hires convicted felons as "gang intervention specialists", many of whom have been subsequently indicted. This latter ad was described in the media as "the most racist and sexist political ad ever", and Democrats at the state and national level urged Republican candidate Craig Huey to disown the ad, which he eventually did. Ehlinger himself said in response to the criticism, “I didn't kill anyone. I didn't even enable anyone to kill anyone....The ad's funny. It makes me laugh. So if, for some reason, it's pulled by YouTube, a thousand will be launched in its place.” The

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

made mention of the controversy surrounding the ad in one of its fundraising e-mails.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehlinger, Ladd, Jr. Filmmakers from Louisiana American libertarians Living people 1968 births