Lindsay Ellis
A white woman with brown hair is wearing a black t-shirt (that reads "dark universe"); she is wearing sunglasses, looking and facing the camera's left.
Lindsay Ellis in 2020
Born1984 or 1985 (age 38–39)[1]
Johnson City, Tennessee, U.S.
EducationNew York University (BA)
University of Southern California (MFA)
Occupations
Years active2008–present
Notable workAxiom's End
Spouse
Nick
​
(m. 2019)​
[2]
Children1[3]
YouTube information
Also known asNostalgia Chick
Channel
Genre(s)Film criticism, video essay, science fiction
Subscribers1.2 million[4]
Total views132 million[4]
NetworkStoried[5] at PBS Digital Studios
100,000 subscribers2017
1,000,000 subscribers2020
Last updated: July 2, 2022
Websitewww.lindsayell.is

Lindsay Ellis (born 1984/1985) is an American author, film critic, and video essayist. Her debut novel, Axiom's End, published in July 2020, became a New York Times Best Seller.[6]

Education and career

Ellis received her BA in Film Studies from New York University in 2007 and MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2011.[1][7] Along with her friends Elisa Hansen and Antonella "Nella" Inserra, she wrote Awoken, a paranormal romance parody of Twilight about a woman falling in love with Cthulhu, under the alias Serra Elinsen.[8] In 2010, she wrote and directed the documentary short film The A-Word about women's experience with abortion.[9]

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. She went on to create over 100 videos as part of the series before leaving in 2014 to focus more on long-form video essays.[1][10]

Video essays (2014–present)

On her YouTube channel, Ellis frequently made videos about Walt Disney Pictures films.[7] Other works include "The Whole Plate," a long-running series examining the Transformers film series and the work of Michael Bay which has received more than 4 million views,[1][11] and a three-part series about the production of The Hobbit trilogy and its effect on the New Zealand film industry.[12][13] 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.[1] In addition to covering film topics, she has also created videos on being a YouTube content creator.[1]

Ellis also co-hosts the It's Lit! web series, alongside fellow YouTuber Princess Weekes, for PBS Digital Studios, which explores trends in American literature as a companion piece to The Great American Read on PBS itself.[1][14]

The three-part documentary The Hobbit Duology (2018), which Ellis wrote and edited with Angelina Meehan, was a finalist for the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Related Work.[15]

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.[16] She releases content early on Patreon where she has over 9,000 patrons, making her one of the top 50 creators on the platform.[17]

Throughout her career online, Ellis has been subject to multiple campaigns of online harassment.[1][18][19] One such campaign occurred after she compared the film Raya and the Last Dragon to Avatar: The Last Airbender on Twitter, which detractors perceived to be a racist generalization of media featuring Asian people. In a 2021 Patreon blog post titled "Walking away from Omelas" (an allusion to the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin), she announced her retirement from YouTube and content creation, citing cancel culture and online harassment.[20][21] 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.[20]

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. 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.[22] Ellis has since continued to publish video content on Nebula.

Noumena (2020–present)

In early 2020, Ellis co-founded MusicalSplaining, 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.[23]

In 2019, Ellis announced her debut novel, Axiom's End, a science fiction novel set in 2007, planned as the first book in the Noumena series.[24] It was published by St. Martin's Press 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 and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.[25][26][6] Ellis was subsequently shortlisted for the "Astounding Award for Best New Writer", which is given out during the Hugo Award ceremonies.[27] In July 2022, Ellis made a guest appearance on MusicalSplaining. She also appeared in the final episode of the podcast in December 2023.

Personal life

Ellis grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee.[1] She is bisexual[28][29] and a vegetarian.[30] As of 2019, she and her husband live in Long Beach, California.[1] In June 2022, it was revealed that she has a daughter, who was born roughly early-to-mid May 2022.[20]

Works

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated works Nominee(s) Result
2019 Hugo Award Best Related Work The Hobbit Duology Lindsay Ellis, Angelina Meehan Nominated[35]
2021 11th Streamy Awards Commentary Herself Lindsay Ellis Nominated[36]
Astounding Award Best New Writer Axiom's End Lindsay Ellis Nominated[37]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Raftery, Brian (March 8, 2019). "How YouTube Made a Star Out of This Super-Smart Film Critic". Wired. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  2. ↑ "So yesterday was my third wedding anniversary, and for as expensive as wedding photos are and considering I've never publicly posted them anywhere, this seemed like some primo Instagram #content. So although I have sprinkled some stealth pictures of Nick hither and thither, here we are, not being coy. Well, being a little coy. Highlights include: bad prom photos with Angelina, Nella fittingly catching the bouquet, and Transformers wedding cake toppers (Starscream and Windblade - I'm Starscream obvs). To preemptively answer some questions — my mother walked me down the aisle. Elisa (my comment matron for those who don't know her by her other works) was my other bridesmaid, and yes she is my sister-in-law. The cake was chocolate cheesecake". instagram.com.
  3. ↑ "Meet Lindsay Ellis Daughter Costa Mesa With Husband Nick Hither". celebcritics.com. 7 September 2023.
  4. 1 2 "About Lindsay Ellis". YouTube.
  5. ↑ "Storied". YouTube. PBS Digital Studios. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 Bestseller lists:
  7. 1 2 Metz, Nina (October 5, 2017). "Video essayist Lindsay Ellis takes on Disney". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ Kress, Melanie (October 9, 2013). "Awoken – Serra Elinsen". CultureFly (review). Archived from the original on October 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ McCormick, James (April 4, 2011). "James Reviews Lindsay Ellis' The A-Word [Film Review]". CriterionCast. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  10. ↑ Schroeder, Audra (April 4, 2018). "Former contributors allege mismanagement and misconduct at Channel Awesome". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  11. ↑ Zakarin, Jordan (July 16, 2018). "Bumblebee Peeing on John Turturro Propelled Lindsay Ellis to Film Criticism Greatness [Ep. #41]". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ Puschmann, Karl (April 26, 2018). "Is The Hobbit trilogy really that bad? Yes – here's why". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ Butler, Tom (April 5, 2018). "The Hobbit actor says the films became 'a big punch up, driven by technology' after studio interference". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  14. ↑ "The Case for Fan Fiction (feat. Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes) | It's Lit". YouTube. Storied. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Vorel, Jim (April 2, 2019). "YouTuber Lindsay Ellis Has Been Nominated for a Hugo Award for Her Acclaimed Hobbit Duology". Paste. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  16. ↑ Hale, James (June 10, 2019). "Creators Can't Always Take Risks With Their Content. That's Why YouTuber Community Standard Built Nebula — A Platform For Its Creators To Experiment". TubeFilter. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Top Patreon Video". Tubefilter. June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  18. ↑ Yu, Alan (January 16, 2020). "How psychology is just catching up with the effects of online hate". WHYY-FM.
  19. ↑ Ellis, Lindsay (October 18, 2019). Lindsay Ellis, Video Essayist – XOXO Festival (2019). Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
  20. 1 2 3 "VidCon 22: Former YouTuber Lindsay Ellis says she's learning to live with the trauma of being 'canceled'". NBC News. 26 June 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  21. ↑ Ellis, Lindsay (December 27, 2021). "Walking away from Omelas". Patreon.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021.
  22. ↑ Ellis, Lindsay (2022-10-11), Lindsay Ellis — How They Adapted Lord of the Rings (the good one), retrieved 2022-10-12
  23. ↑ Nicolaou, Elena (April 7, 2020). "The Best New Podcasts of 2020 to Get Lost In". O, The Oprah Magazine. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  24. 1 2 "Noumena". Macmillan Publishers.
  25. ↑ "Video Essayist Lindsay Ellis Announces Her Debut Novel, Axiom's End". Tor.com. September 5, 2019. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  26. ↑ Weiss, Geoff (September 6, 2019). "YouTube Media Critic Lindsay Ellis Announces Debut Novel Axiom's End". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  27. ↑ O'Donnell, Emily (April 13, 2021). "2021 Hugo Awards Finalists Announced - Comic Years". Comic Years. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  28. ↑ Ellis, Lindsay (June 26, 2015). "Bisexual Privilege, Bisexual Erasure". Real Name Brand Lindsay [personal blog]. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015.
  29. ↑ Blaque, Kat (May 24, 2021). "Lindsay Ellis Discusses Bisexual Folks w/ 'Straight Passing Privilege'". True Tea (Podcast). Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  30. ↑ Ellis, Lindsay (November 16, 2023). "Lindsay Ellis (@lindsayellis.bsky.social)". Bluesky Social. Retrieved November 16, 2023. this might be a little 🌶️ hot take 🌶️ but as a long time vegetarian the absolute worst thing about thanksgiving is the over-reliance on celery, the worst vegetable.
  31. ↑ "How Not To Be Alone in the Universe: Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis". www.tor.com.
  32. ↑ "A New Kind of Nostalgia in Lindsay Ellis's "Axiom's End"". chireviewofbooks.com. 23 July 2020.
  33. ↑ "Newly Published, From the Extraterrestrial to East Jersey State Prison". The New York Times. 29 October 2021.
  34. ↑ "Truth of the Divine". www.publishersweekly.com.
  35. ↑ "2019 Hugo Awards". 28 July 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  36. ↑ "11th Annual Streamy Nominees & Winners". The Streamy Awards. December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  37. ↑ "2021 Hugo Awards". January 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
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