While we’re in the season of the industry congratulating itself, if there was an Oscar for Keeping Cinephile Hope Alive, it would be awarded to producer Megan Ellison. Under her Annapurna Pictures banner, she has shepherded the kinds of risky, adventurous filmmaking that the studios generally don’t want to invest in these days, and this nearly three-minute supercut is a highlight reel of what she’s brought to screens from 2012 onward.
Why is that such a pivotal year? Well, it arguably marks the start of the run of the movies that made her name, and associated Ellison with some of the most talented contemporary filmmakers of the current generation. Hell, the list of movies speaks for itself: "Lawless," "Killing Them Softly," "The Master," "Spring Breakers," "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Grandmaster," "Her," "American Hustle," and "Foxcatcher." Whether it’s a true story military procedural, a dreamy martial arts epic, a wild bikini fuelled adventure, or a delicate sci-fi romance, the throughline in Ellison’s films has been putting the auteur first.
Check out the supercut below and tell us which filmmakers you want Ellison to work with in the future.