Lindsay Ellis (born 1984/1985) is an American author,

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

video essay A video essay is a piece of video content that, much like a written essay, advances an argument. Video essays take advantage of the structure and language of film to advance their arguments. Popularity While the medium has its roots in academia, i ...

ist, and former YouTuber. Her debut novel, ''

Axiom's End ''Axiom's End'' is a 2020 science fiction novel by American writer Lindsay Ellis. Set in 2007, the novel is about a U.S. government coverup of contact with extraterrestrial life. ''Axiom's End'' entered The New York Times Best Seller list, ''Th ...

'', published in July 2020, became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller.

Education and career

Ellis received her BA in Film Studies from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 2007 and MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2011. Along with her friends Elisa Hansen and Antonella "Nella" Inserra, she wrote ''Awoken'', a

paranormal romance Paranormal romance is a subgenre of both romantic fiction and speculative fiction. Paranormal romance focuses on romantic love and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the speculative fiction ...

parody of ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

'' about a woman falling in love with

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...

, under the alias Serra Elinsen. In 2010, she wrote and directed the documentary short film ''The A-Word'' about women's experience with

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

Nostalgia Chick (2008–2014)

From 2008 to 2014, while also studying for her MFA, Ellis was selected to host ''The Nostalgia Chick'' as part of the Channel Awesome production company, a web series based on the ''

Nostalgia Critic ''Nostalgia Critic'' is an American review comedy web series created, directed by and starring web comedian Douglas "Doug" Walker. The series initially launched on YouTube on July 3, 2007, before moving to Walker's own site, That Guy with the G ...

. S''he went on to create over 100 videos as part of the series before leaving in 2014 to focus more on long-form

Video essays (2014–2021)

On her YouTube channel, Ellis frequently made videos about

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

films. Other works include "The Whole Plate," a long-running series examining the ''Transformers'' film series and the work of

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...

which has received more than 4 million views, and a three-part series about the production of ''The Hobbit'' trilogy and its effect on the New Zealand film industry. Her ''Loose Canon'' series explores derivations of literary and film characters over time. Since 2017, her focus on her channel has been on video essays about films. Ellis says she most enjoys thinking about "things that are deeply flawed but have this really interesting potential." Her videos are created with a small team of part-time staff. In addition to covering film topics, she has also created videos on being a YouTube content creator. Ellis also co-hosts the ''It's Lit!'' web series, alongside fellow YouTuber Princess Weekes, for

PBS Digital Studios PBS Digital Studios is a non-profit organization that through which PBS distributes original educational web video content based in Arlington, Virginia. It comprises both original series and partnerships with existing YouTube channels. Most of t ...

, which explores trends in

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

as a companion piece to ''The Great American Read'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

itself. The three-part documentary ''The Hobbit Duology'' (2018), which Ellis wrote and edited with Angelina Meehan, was a finalist for the 2019

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

for Best Related Work. She was one of the founders of the Standard creator community along with Dave Wiskus, CGP Grey, Philipp Dettmer and many other creators. Through Standard, she has released most of her content on Standard's Nebula streaming video service, including an extended cut on Tom Hooper's ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

''. She releases content early on Patreon where she has over 9,000 patrons, making her one of the top 50 creators on the platform. Throughout her career online, Ellis has been subject to multiple campaigns of online harassment. One such campaign occurred after she compared the film '' Raya and the Last Dragon'' to '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, which some perceived as a racist generalization of media featuring

Asian people Asian people (or Asians, sometimes referred to as Asiatic people)United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purpos ...

. In a 2021 Patreon blog post titled "Walking away from Omelas" (an allusion to the short story "

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is a 1973 work of short philosophical fiction by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. With deliberately both vague and vivid descriptions, the narrator depicts a summer festival in the utopian city of Omelas, w ...

" by

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

), she announced her retirement from YouTube and content creation, citing

cancel culture Cancel culture, or rarely also known as call-out culture, is a phrase contemporary to the late 2010s and early 2020s used to refer to a form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles—whether it be online, on ...

and online harassment. In June 2022, Ellis resurfaced publicly at Vidcon where she discussed her life following her online retirement and the impact it had on her own mental health. In October 2022, Ellis announced through her Patreon that, while she still intends to never return to YouTube, she will be releasing new content exclusively through Nebula, with her patrons getting free access as a Patreon perk.

''Noumena'' (2020–present)

In early 2020, Ellis co-founded ''

MusicalSplaining ''MusicalSplaining'' is a podcast hosted by filmmaker Kaveh Taherian and writer Angelina Meehan. Each episode, the two hosts are introduced to a different musical and they discuss its plot, themes and production. The podcast was pitched as a sh ...

'', a podcast in which she, accompanied by director and illustrator Kaveh Taherian, discussed a different musical every two weeks. It was included in '' O, The Oprah Magazine''s top 20 new podcasts of 2020. In 2019, Ellis announced her debut novel, ''

'', an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

set in 2007, planned as the first book in the ''

Noumena In philosophy, a noumenon (, ; ; noumena) is a posited object or an event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. The term ''noumenon'' is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to, the term ''phenomenon'', which ...

'' series. It was published by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

on July 21, 2020, and entered ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list at number 7 on August 9, as well as appearing on the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' and ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' bestseller lists. Ellis was subsequently shortlisted for the " Astounding Award for Best New Writer", which is given out during the

ceremonies. In July 2022, Ellis made a guest appearance on ''

''. In October 2022, Ellis posted her first video essay in nearly one year on streaming platform Nebula, discussing the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. Ellis has since posted a subsequent video on that platform discussing the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''.

Personal life

Ellis grew up in

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...

. She is

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

. , she and her husband live in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. In June 2022, it was revealed that she has a daughter.

Works

* ''Noumena'' series: ** ''

'' (2020) ** ''Truth of the Divine'' (2021) ** Untitled third ''Axiom's End'' novel

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Lindsay 1980s births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American YouTubers American feminists American film critics American LGBT novelists American science fiction writers American women podcasters American podcasters Bisexual feminists Bisexual women Channel Awesome Commentary YouTubers LGBT YouTubers LGBT people from Tennessee Patreon creators PBS people People from Johnson City, Tennessee Pseudonymous women writers Tisch School of the Arts alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Victims of cyberbullying Video essayists American women film critics Women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Tennessee YouTube channels launched in 2013 YouTube critics and reviewers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people