Academy Award-nominee, two-time Emmy winner Ellen Kuras is an American director/cinematographer whose eclectic, visionary body of work includes narrative and documentary films, music films and commercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of the few female members of the American Society of Cinematographers, she is a pioneer best known for her work on ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004), and BLOW (2001). She is the unprecedented three-time winner of the Excellence Award for Best Dramatic Cinematography at Sundance and has been nominated for numerous Emmys and Independent Spirit Awards.
She has collaborated with directors such as Michael Gondry, Spike Lee, Sam Mendes, Jonathan Demme, Jim Jarmusch, Rebecca Miller, Martin Scorsese, and more.
On her directorial debut, THE BETRAYAL/NERAKHOON (2008), she was nominated for an Academy Award, a Spirit Award, and won the Primetime Emmy. She went on to direct commercials for Apple, Coke, Delta and began directing television when she joined Martin Scorsese to direct second unit on VINYL and Steve Zaillian on THE NIGHT OF. Jason Bateman asked her to direct two episodes on the first season of OZARK for Netflix, which she then followed with directing two episodes on THE SON, LEGION, and two seasons of UMBRELLA ACADEMY also for Netflix. In 2018, she was invited by George Clooney to direct two of the six episodes on The Anonymous/Paramount limited series CATCH 22. She just finished directing a Shondaland Netflix series about Anna Delvey which stars Julia Gardner.
Ellen still finds time to work with longtime colleagues on passion projects. This past year she and Martin Scorsese got together to make PRETEND IT’S A CITY with Fran Lebowitz, and partnering with Spike Lee and David Byrne, she filmed the Broadway play AMERICAN UTOPIA.
Sundance Advisor //