Ellen Gavin
- Writer
Ellen Gavin is a writer/director/producer living in Los Angeles. Her
theater and film work is female-driven and socially-conscious; born
from her experiences as a passionate activist, traveler and
ground-breaker.
A fluent Spanish speaker, Gavin worked as a staff writer on the Nicaraguan drama Contracorriente la serie (2011), broadcasting on major networks throughout Latin America. The central storyline involves a teenage girl in an extended traditional family who is lured into the underground world of sex trafficking. Gavin was one of the first female firefighters in the San Diego Fire Department, assigned to one of the busiest stations in the city. Her life-and-death experiences inspired her play, The Roof's on Fire!, directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang (Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin' to Tell You (2013), as well as the one-hour dramatic pilot, Walk Under Ladders, whose heroine's quest to become a Battalion Chief upends her stable life. Gavin's play, Stardust and Empty Wagons, chronicled the harrowing experiences of 25 Katrina survivors while celebrating the musical history of NOLA. Accompanied live by the renowned Hot Eight Brass Band of New Orleans, it attracted exceptional reviews and audiences.
Gavin was born in Lawrence, Ma.-the famed City of Immigrants- whose multi-culti residents fomented the "Bread and Roses" battle of 1912 that ended child labor. Her feature Rebels and Roses was inspired by the stories of it told at her grandmother's knee.
Gavin's first feature romantic comedy, G.P.S. I Love You, will be directed in 2015 by British filmmaker Pratibha Parmar (Les délices de Nina (2006), Khush (1991), Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (2013), A Place of Rage (1991) and will be produced by Dexter Davis of D Street Pictures and Shaheen Haq of Kali Films.
Gavin's chops as a writer/director/producer were honed within the San Francisco theater community. She was the Founder/Artistic Director of the Brava Theater Center, internationally-recognized for nurturing new plays by women and playwrights of color. Gavin led a $6 million campaign to purchase the historic York Theater in the Mission District and renovate it into a state-of-of-the-art theater complex. She produced and presented hundreds of premieres by writers such as Suzan-Lori Parks, Cherrie Moraga, Culture Clash (1993), Gillian Slovo, Eve Ensler, Diana Son, Joan Holden and Dan Guerrero, and world-renowned musicians such as Lesley Gore, Los Panchos, Ojos de Brujo, Teague and Sarah, Lila Downs,Ely Guerra, Richie Havens and Janis Ian as well as solo artists Coleman Barks, Kate Rigg, Kate Clinton and Reno .
Gavin was the recipient of the LAVA Award, San Francisco Magazine's Artistic Achievement Award, the Bay Guardian Local Hero Award and GOLDie Local Discovery Awards, as well as travel fellowships to Cuba, Mexico and Central America. In 2008, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared Ellen Gavin Day, in honor of her contributions to San Francisco's cultural life.
Gavin is an avid scuba diver, gardener and yoga practitioner. She sits on the Board of Directors of LA's Cornerstone Theater Company. She is an aficionado of modern architecture and design. The completed Brava Theater Center won many awards including the AIA No. California Design Award and the International Neon Competition for its marquee; it was featured on the cover of Contract Magazine.
A fluent Spanish speaker, Gavin worked as a staff writer on the Nicaraguan drama Contracorriente la serie (2011), broadcasting on major networks throughout Latin America. The central storyline involves a teenage girl in an extended traditional family who is lured into the underground world of sex trafficking. Gavin was one of the first female firefighters in the San Diego Fire Department, assigned to one of the busiest stations in the city. Her life-and-death experiences inspired her play, The Roof's on Fire!, directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang (Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin' to Tell You (2013), as well as the one-hour dramatic pilot, Walk Under Ladders, whose heroine's quest to become a Battalion Chief upends her stable life. Gavin's play, Stardust and Empty Wagons, chronicled the harrowing experiences of 25 Katrina survivors while celebrating the musical history of NOLA. Accompanied live by the renowned Hot Eight Brass Band of New Orleans, it attracted exceptional reviews and audiences.
Gavin was born in Lawrence, Ma.-the famed City of Immigrants- whose multi-culti residents fomented the "Bread and Roses" battle of 1912 that ended child labor. Her feature Rebels and Roses was inspired by the stories of it told at her grandmother's knee.
Gavin's first feature romantic comedy, G.P.S. I Love You, will be directed in 2015 by British filmmaker Pratibha Parmar (Les délices de Nina (2006), Khush (1991), Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (2013), A Place of Rage (1991) and will be produced by Dexter Davis of D Street Pictures and Shaheen Haq of Kali Films.
Gavin's chops as a writer/director/producer were honed within the San Francisco theater community. She was the Founder/Artistic Director of the Brava Theater Center, internationally-recognized for nurturing new plays by women and playwrights of color. Gavin led a $6 million campaign to purchase the historic York Theater in the Mission District and renovate it into a state-of-of-the-art theater complex. She produced and presented hundreds of premieres by writers such as Suzan-Lori Parks, Cherrie Moraga, Culture Clash (1993), Gillian Slovo, Eve Ensler, Diana Son, Joan Holden and Dan Guerrero, and world-renowned musicians such as Lesley Gore, Los Panchos, Ojos de Brujo, Teague and Sarah, Lila Downs,Ely Guerra, Richie Havens and Janis Ian as well as solo artists Coleman Barks, Kate Rigg, Kate Clinton and Reno .
Gavin was the recipient of the LAVA Award, San Francisco Magazine's Artistic Achievement Award, the Bay Guardian Local Hero Award and GOLDie Local Discovery Awards, as well as travel fellowships to Cuba, Mexico and Central America. In 2008, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared Ellen Gavin Day, in honor of her contributions to San Francisco's cultural life.
Gavin is an avid scuba diver, gardener and yoga practitioner. She sits on the Board of Directors of LA's Cornerstone Theater Company. She is an aficionado of modern architecture and design. The completed Brava Theater Center won many awards including the AIA No. California Design Award and the International Neon Competition for its marquee; it was featured on the cover of Contract Magazine.
