Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Ellory Elkayem began making films as
a teenager. At 18, he attended a film school designed to give students
practical experience and preparation for a career in the film business.
He learned the ropes first hand while, working in the camera department
on commercials, music videos, and TV shows such as 'The New Adventures
of the Black Stallion' starring Mickey Rooney.
During this time, Ellory also made several short films with support
from the New Zealand Arts Council. His big break came with, 'Larger
Than Life', a 13 minute, black and white, VFX-driven homage to the
1950's Hollywood horror genre featuring a giant, man-eating spider.
Produced by Academy Award winner Jamie Selkirk and financed with a
grant from the New Zealand Film Commission, 'Larger Than Life' received
critical acclaim at the 1998 Telluride Film Festival and later caught
the eye of heavyweight Hollywood producers, Dean Devlin and Roland
Emmerich. ('Independence Day'). Emmerich and Devlin then hired Ellory
to write and direct 'Eight-Legged Freaks', a 30 million dollar feature
film based on 'Larger Than Life', starring David Arquette and Scarlett
Johansson, and distributed by Warner Brothers.
In 2000, while in development on Eight Legged Freaks, Ellory directed
'They Nest', a television movie for USA Networks starring Dean
Stockwell and John Savage. The movie, also known as 'Creepy Crawlers',
told the tale of a small New England town infested with an exotic breed
of killer cockroaches.
In 2001 Ellory directed 'Eight Legged Freaks' and in 2002, the film was
released to rave reviews.
In 2004 Ellory went to Romania to direct two zombie movies, back to
back. 'Return of the Living Dead - Necropolis', and 'Return of the
Living Dead - Rave from the Grave', starring Peter Coyote.
In 2008 Ellory directed the comedy sequel 'Without A Paddle-Nature's
Calling' for Paramount.
In 2009 Ellory returned to New Zealand to develop feature film projects
with local writers and producers.
