Ellory Elkayem, a New Zealand native, began his filmmaking journey as a teenager. He attended a film school at the tender age of 18, designed to provide students with practical experience and prepare them for a career in the film industry. During his time at the film school, he worked in the camera department on various projects, including commercials, music videos, and TV shows such as 'The New Adventures of the Black Stallion' starring the legendary Mickey Rooney.
Ellory also made several short films with the support of the New Zealand Arts Council, which would later serve as a springboard for his future success. His big break came with 'Larger Than Life', a 13-minute, black-and-white, VFX-driven homage to the 1950s Hollywood horror genre featuring a giant, man-eating spider.
Produced by Academy Award winner Jamie Selkirk and financed by a grant from the New Zealand Film Commission, 'Larger Than Life' received critical acclaim at the 1998 Telluride Film Festival and soon caught the attention of heavyweight Hollywood producers Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. 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', which was released to rave reviews in 2002. In 2004, he ventured to Romania to direct two zombie movies, '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, he returned to New Zealand to develop feature film projects with local writers and producers.
