Before producing and writing for
Entourage, Ellin served as a staff writer for
Life with Bonnie, which starred
Bonnie Hunt. The series ran from 2003-2004. Ellin has also written screenplays for two films,
Kissing a Fool and
Phat Beach. He moved to
Los Angeles in the early 1990s to be a stand-up comedian and soon got a job in the mail room at
New Line Cinema. It was there where he befriended film producer
Michael De Luca who funded Ellin's first short film
The Pitch, starring then unknown actor
David Schwimmer. In 1996, he directed the independent comedy film
Phat Beach. The film was made on a very low budget, and Ellin has called it "Probably the worst movie ever made". Two years later, Ellin made another independent comedy film
Kissing a Fool, starring
David Schwimmer, who was now known due to his role on
Friends which was in its fourth season.
Kissing a Fool was sold for distribution and Ellin subsequently sold a few screenplays to
Miramax. One,
The Pledge was never produced although Ellin was paid seven figures for the script and was set to direct. He sold another unproduced screenplay for mid-six figures. Ellin's real success came in 2004 with
Entourage. The HBO show ran for eight seasons and Ellin made an eight-figure pact with HBO to continue producing television. Additionally, Ellin serves on the board of the
Greenwich International Film Festival. Ellin wrote and directed the 2015
film adaptation of
Entourage. ==Personal life==