Michelle Ehlen

Michelle Ehlen is an independent filmmaker and actor, best known for creating the first lesbian comedy trilogy - Butch Jamie, Heterosexual Jill, and S&M Sally. Identifying with both the queer and DIY filmmaking movements, much of her work satirizes gender, sexuality, stereotypes, and identity. Her films have screened in over 100 festivals worldwide, won 20 awards, and have been sold to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HereTV, and many other outlets. Originally from San Juan Capistrano, CA, Michelle started performing on stage when she was eight. After attending Powerhouse Theater to study acting at Vassar when she was seventeen, she decided to attend college on the east coast and chose Smith College to study both Sociology and Film. After graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to work as an editor and go to the L.A. Film School. Her thesis short film, Half-Laughing, aired nationally on LOGO and was distributed by Wolfe Video on the DVD compilation, "The Ultimate Lesbian Short Film Festival." Shortly thereafter, Michelle started her production company Ballet Diesel Films, whose name aims to capture a comedic essence of both masculine and feminine, the interplay of which is a recurring theme in many of her films. Her first feature, Butch Jamie, is a gender-bending comedy about a butch lesbian actor who gets cast as a man in a film. The film landed her the Best Actress award from the Outfest Film Festival, among other awards. She then decided to write two more films with the same characters - Heterosexual Jill and S&M Sally. She refers to Butch Jamie as a satire on gender, Heterosexual Jill a satire on sexuality, and S&M Sally a satire on relationships. All of the films had a nice long festival run and she was invited to speak at many of them, including screenings in Taipei, Seoul, Tel Aviv, and the Yukon. Michelle is currently in development on a character-driven dramedy called Maybe Someday. She also freelances as an editor, director, and producer for a variety of projects, including music videos, documentaries, and independent features.