Doug Ellin

Doug Ellin

Ellin in 2009
Born Douglas Reed Ellin
(1968-04-06) April 6, 1968
Merrick, New York, United States
Occupation Screenwriter, producer, director
Spouse(s) Melissa Dana Hecht (1996–2009)[1]

Douglas Reed "Doug" Ellin (born April 6, 1968) is an American screenwriter and director, known best for creating the HBO television series Entourage. Ellin also served as executive producer and head writer for the series, and wrote, directed and produced its 2015 film adaptation. He attended Tulane University.

Life and career

Ellin was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of June and Marvin Ellin.[1][2]

Before producing and writing for Entourage, Ellin served as a staff writer for Life with Bonnie, which starred Bonnie Hunt. The series ran from 2003-2004. Ellin has also written screenplays for two films, Kissing a Fool and Phat Beach. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 90's to be a stand-up comedian and soon got a job in the mail room at New Line Cinema. It was there where he befriended film producer Mike DeLuca who funded Ellin's first short film The Pitch, starring then unknown actor David Schwimmer. That short film got Ellin accepted to the American Film Institute, where he graduated from in 1994. In 1996, he directed the independent comedy film Phat Beach. The film was made on a very low budget, and Ellin has called it "Probably the worst movie ever made". Two years later, Ellin made another independent comedy film Kissing a Fool, starring David Schwimmer, who was now known due to his role on Friends which was in its fourth season.

Kissing a Fool was sold for distribution and Ellin subsequently sold a few screenplays to Miramax. One, The Pledge was never produced although Ellin was paid seven figures for the script and was set to direct. He sold another unproduced screenplay for mid-six figures.

Ellin's real success came in 2004 with Entourage. The HBO show ran for eight seasons and Ellin made an eight-figure pact with HBO to continue producing television.

Additionally, Ellin serves on the board of the Greenwich International Film Festival.[3]

Ellin wrote and directed the 2015 film adaptation of Entourage.

Awards and nominations

Ellin has been nominated for three Emmy Awards, four Writers Guild of America Awards, three PGA Awards and a BAFTA, and has won a BAFTA and a PGA award.[4]

Personal

Ellin married Melissa Dana Hecht in 1996 and together have one child.[5][6] The two divorced in 2009. Ellin has said the character of Ari Gold's wife in Entourage was based on Hecht.[7][8]

Ellin is currently dating Maddie Diehl and proposed to her in 2014.[9]

Filmography

Writer

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Waiter Writer Independent film
1993 The Pitch Writer Credited as Douglas Ellin
1996 Phat Beach Screenwriter
1998 Kissing A Fool Screenwriter
2002–2004 Life With Bonnie Staff Writer Number of written episodes unknown
2004–2011 Entourage Head Writer Also Creator
2015 Entourage Screenwriter
2016 Bad Santa 2 Screenwriter

Producer

Year Title Role Notes
2004–2011 Entourage Executive Producer 96 Episodes

Actor

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Pitch Unknown Credited as Douglas Ellin
1998 Kissing A Fool Bartender/Springer guest
2004–2011 Entourage Doug/Director 3 Episodes guest star

Director

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Waiter Independent (Indie) film
1993 The Pitch Credited as Douglas Ellin
1996 Phat Beach
1998 Kissing A Fool
2015 Entourage

References

  1. 1 2 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E3DD1639F936A1575BC0A960958260
  2. ↑ Doug Ellin (I)
  3. ↑ Heins, Barbara (20 April 2014). "Actors Michael Imperioli, Deborah Royce Join Greenwich International Film Festival Board". Greenwich Patch.
  4. ↑ IMDb: Awards for Doug Ellin
  5. ↑ http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/04/16/rollin-with-dad
  6. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/25/style/melissa-d-hecht-douglas-r-ellin.html
  7. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/10/entertainment/et-reeves10
  8. ↑ http://elitedaily.com/entertainment/film/new-success-doug-ellin/1043733/
  9. ↑ http://pagesix.com/2014/12/23/entourage-creator-proposes-to-gf-with-help-from-the-diceman/

External links

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