Ellie Parker

Ellie Parker
Ellie Parker
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Scott Coffey
Written by	Scott Coffey
Produced by	Scott Coffey; Naomi Watts;
Starring	Naomi Watts; Rebecca Rigg; Scott Coffey; Mark Pellegrino; Chevy Chase;
Cinematography	Scott Coffey; Blair Mastbaum;
Edited by	Matt Chesse
Music by	Neil Jackson; BC Smith;
Production; companies	Strand Releasing; Kailua Productions;
Distributed by	Dream Entertainment; Strand Releasing;
Release dates	November 11, 2005 (United States; limited);
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million
Box office	$45,726

Ellie Parker is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Scott Coffey. It stars Naomi Watts in the title role, a young woman struggling as an actress in Los Angeles. Ellie Parker began as a short film that was screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. 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), 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), 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 (Scott Coffey), her perspective on her work and the dating world starts to change. Chevy Chase also makes an appearance playing Ellie's agent.

Cast

Naomi Watts as Ellie Parker
Rebecca Rigg as Sam
Scott Coffey as Chris
Mark Pellegrino as Justin
Chevy Chase as Dennis Swartzbaum
Jennifer Syme as Casting Chick
Jessicka as Acting Class Student
Keanu Reeves as Dogstar bassist (himself)

Production

Watts, Coffey, and Pellegrino all worked together on David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, 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 video over the course of five years, having begun its life as a series of shorts featuring Watts' character.^{[citation needed]}

The film centers on a quote from the prologue to William Shakespeare's Henry V:

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

^ "Ellie Parker". The Wrap. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
^ "Ellie Parker". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 19, 2014.

External links

[1] "Ellie Parker". The Wrap. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2014.

[2] "Ellie Parker". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 19, 2014.

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