| David R. Ellis |
|---|
| Born |
| September 08, 1952 Santa Monica, California |
| Occupation |
| Film director, former stuntman |
| Career milestones |
| Final Destination 2 (2003) Cellular (2004) Snakes on a Plane (2006) |
David Richard Ellis (born September 8, 1952 in Santa Monica, California) is an American film director and a former stuntman.
Ellis began his career in the film industry as a supporting actor in juvenile roles; his big screen debut was in the 1975 Kurt Russell film The Strongest Man in the World. One year later, he switched to stunts in the film Baby Blue Marine and worked from then on as a stuntman. His next career move came in 1981 with the promotion to stunt coordinator. After a successful five years in this position, he worked from 1986 on as an assistant director or Second Assistant Director, in charge of action sequences from films such as Matrix Revolutions and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
In 1996, he made his debut as a director with the family film Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco. He attained more attention as director of his next film, Final Destination 2, the continuation of the financially successful Final Destination series. He will also be directed the fourth film, which involves a high-speed race car crash where an object will fly into the stands killing some of the audience members
His next work as director, the thriller Cellular, was a moderate success at the box office, which Ellis attributed to competition from Resident Evil and bad marketing.
In 2006, his next film appeared, the thriller Snakes on a Plane, which gained unusual hype on the Internet.
Began as child actor in Kurt Russell (I)-Disney Films in 1974. Made the switch to the Stunt world following a successful career as a junior pro surfer. Born, bred, and continues to reside in Malibu. Many, many stunts later David made the promotion to Stunt Coordinator in 1978 on Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). Coordinating TV and films all over the world brought him up to the position of 2nd Unit Director on Gorky Park (1983). "Action" movies proceeded to explode along with David's career. Befriending Harrison Ford (I), two of David's most notable 2nd units were Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). As shown in Filmography, he worked back to back until the break from Disney offering to 1st unit Direct the feature, Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996). Directorial debut grossed over $100 Million. Just completing, two, yet to be released features for '97, _Desperate Measures_ & Sphere (1998) with 'Barry Levinson'.
