02/13/2026 with Kirk Ellis

Previously, Ellis received an Emmy nomination and won the WGA Award and Humanitas Prize for the ABC miniseries Anne Frank, which he wrote and co-produced. Miniseries on which he has served as writer and producer, including Into the West, and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows have received more than 50 Emmy nominations. Upcoming feature projects include a biography of the Marquis de Lafayette for director Jean-Francois Richet (Mesrine) and Oscar-nominated Why Not Productions. For HBO, Ellis is writing The Day the Laughter Stopped, an account of the Fatty Arbuckle trials of the 1920s, set to star Eric Stonestreet and to be directed by Barry Levinson. He is currently collaborating with L.A. Confidential author James Ellroy on the contemporary police drama Throwdown Gun for FX. A graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television, Ellis began his professional career as a film critic for The Hollywood Reporter, and at age 24 served as the magazine's international editor. In 1992 he formed Shadow Catcher Productions, an independent production banner under which Ellis develops his own indie features and documentaries. In addition to serving as a Television Academy governor, Ellis is chairman of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, Arts Commission. He is a former board member of the Western Writers of America, and sits on the advisory board of James River Writers. His latest book, 'They Kill People' is available at bookstores and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 'They Kill People' is the story of the making of Bonnie and Clyde. It is the story of the outlaws whose real lives were anything but glamorous. Most of all, it is the story of how violence and a predilection for firearms became a fundamental part of American identity.