NYWIFT Blog

By Lily Hutcheson

Welcome to NYWIFT, Ellie Nix!

Ellie Nix is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, where she played key roles in over 25 short films during the three years it took her to complete her degree.

With a growing passion for assistant directing, Ellie brings a unique blend of efficiency and diplomacy to the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of media production.

Ellie is most inspired when surrounded by people who challenge their perspective and a passion for those perspectives, and hopes to spend a lifetime pushing boundaries and helping bring bold visions to life.

In our interview, Ellie discusses her experience as an assistant director, finding film community, and her short film Barreling Down!

NYWIFT Member Ellie Nix

Welcome to NYWIFT! Please introduce yourself briefly to our readers.

I’m a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, originally from Washington, D.C., and I’m excited to be back on the East Coast!

I love trying new things, and I’m defined by my ability to solve problems. I like to approach new activities as new problems to solve and work through, and find places where activities I enjoy converge.

I’ve played the guitar since I was 12. Ultimate Frisbee was my passion in high school. I worked on 100-ton water taxis during the summers in college, I’ve done sales for eco-continuous grocery delivery services, and I recently learned how to two-step. The only thing I haven’t tried yet is sitting still (hoping to learn that one soon).

I started my video journey, creating little narrative videos inspired by the show Lost at the age of nine, and ever since, I’ve been obsessed with storytelling through the medium of video. I hope to continue to engage in this industry in all its amazing avenues, while also working long, hard days creating stories with people I love and believe in.

Ellie Nix with another crew member

What brings you to NYWIFT?

In college, I was part of a professional/social film organization called Delta Kappa Alpha. It was a great way to find a community of like-minded people to grow with and create with, and it was also a great place to network and get on sets in Austin.

I hope to find something similar with NYWIFT, especially because a lot of the time when you’re in film and TV, it’s not as much about what you’re making —it’s who you’re making it with.

Ellie Nix on set

What drew you to the role of assistant director, and in your experience how is this position important to the filmmaking process?

A couple of years ago, I was PAing on my first set, and I was observing all the new things around me. Google and I were figuring out exactly what all of them were doing.

I saw someone who was running things seamlessly, stoic and calm, not someone to mess with, so I looked up what an assistant director was, the perfect blend of people, organizational, and technical skills.

ADing seemed like a position where I would be constantly moving, communicating heavily, building relationships, and solving problems. Boy, was I right. There hasn’t been a dull moment since.

I think the AD is the most important role in an efficient, safe, and well-oiled machine of a set; a bad AD can bring down the well-being of a set. People don’t like to sit around. Especially if the holdups are preventable.

Lunch taking 20 minutes longer because someone forgot the plates, [the shoot taking] 15 minutes longer [because] our actor isn’t wearing the right outfit, or grip equipment falling because they rushed to set up… A problem is a problem, and proactive, sequential thinking has always been my solution.

It’s a very nuanced job, and I can’t wait to connect with more people here who are passionate about this role!

Ellie Nix with crew

After working on many shorts, what would you say are some of the benefits and challenges of this film format?

Shorts are great for getting your reps in and learning to be scrappy. You get to try a lot of different roles, work with a lot of different people, and solve many unique problems. Shooting in a gas station off the highway presents different issues than shooting in an old movie theater, in a field, the forest, in a moving car, or in a prison.

The exposure is crucial to understanding the different levels of liability, risk, communication, and skill that go into each kind of project. You also get to work with different personalities. Every weekend, you get exposed to 30 people for 12 hours a day, and you start to recognize patterns with people, how they act under stress, and how to break that stress.

You can discover the types of people and communication you thrive in, and you get the ability to create and maintain good friends.

The downside of the form is that there’s little to no money in it, just practice.

Behind the scenes of Ellie Nix’s short film, Barreling Down

Can you share a bit about the process of making your short film, Barreling Down?

I would love to! It’s a short film about an up-and-coming country band that struggles to stick together as they travel through a hurricane to their first big gig.

Barreling Down is a 12-minute short, with themes of fear and knowing when to move on, told through a very sibling-adjacent dynamic inspired by my younger brother and sister. It’s told through country music and lots and lots of arguments, from sarcastic bickering to screaming matches in the heart of the storm.

It was my thesis project for my Degree at UT-Austin. We finished post-production on it this past May, and now it’s going through its festival run.

My favorite part was the people I was lucky enough to work with. After working on many other short films and connecting through organizations and societies, I was lucky enough to build relationships with many talented friends, and I had the opportunity to crew the entire shoot with my best friends.

There’s no better feeling than creating a project with a ton of people you love and trust who understand and care about your vision. It was a project that presented new fun challenges to every department.

The production design team had to make a rain rig for the car, my editor had to find creative ways to splice together improv, the production sound mixer had to rig more mics and booms than he ever has so he could cover three people talking spread apart on the side of the highway.

My producer had to lock five different locations with very little funds, and my DP had to figure out how to cover three characters in a multitude of tight and ridiculous locations while leading a huge team. It’s a series of small miracles that made this movie, and I am forever grateful to everyone who worked hard to pull it off.

From Barreling Down

What has been a favorite project that you’ve worked on so far in your career?

Barreling Down has been my favorite project to date. When it comes to ADing, my favorite projects have always been defined by working with people who communicate well and are positive forces to work with. I’m currently in the very early stages of another project that has the potential to take its spot!

Connect with Ellie Nix at ellienix.com, and on Instagram @_ellie_nix_.