ELI is a short science-fiction thriller starring David Anders (Alias). It debuted at the Newport Beach Film Festival in April 2007 and premiered in Los Angeles on the Universal Studios backlot. The film was directed and edited by Josh Lee Kwai, written by Tyler Erskine and Ron Beyers, and produced by Erskine, Beyers, Lee Kwai and Jeff Poppen as a filmmakers “calling card.” With a budget of $40,000, ELI was financed by the producers, donations from their friends and family and a grant from the LEF Foundation. Non-profit arts organization Fractured Atlas acted as fiscal sponsor allowing donors to make tax-deductible contributions. The film was shot on HD using a Sony F-900 donated by Panavision. Shooting lasted five and a half days in five different locations in the greater Los Angeles area including Irvine, Downey and Leo Carrillo State Beach. David Anders (born David Anders Holt on March 11, 1981) is an American television and stage actor. ... Alias is an American Spy-fi television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006, spanning five seasons. ... The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California and showcases over 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Panavision is a motion picture equipment company specializing in camera, lens, and grip equipment, along with related accessories. ... Location of Irvine within Orange County, California. ... Location of Downey in California and Los Angeles County Coordinates: Country United States State California County Los Angeles Founded 1800s Incorporated 1956 Government  - Type Council-Manager government  - City Council David R. Gafin Mario A. Guerra Rick Trejo (Mayor) Anne Marie Bayer Kirk Cartozian Area  - City  12. ... Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, California is the closest Pacific Ocean beach to Thousand Oaks, California. ...

Plot

A patient awakens on an operating table with no idea where or even who he is. He leaps up and runs from the room, struggling to get his bearings. Eluding doctors and orderlies who try to re-sedate him, he stumbles downward through the eerie building of the Mirror Corporation. What is this place? Who is he? He notices a strange tattoo on his hand that reads: ELI. A single memory flashes before his eyes - a vision of a mysterious woman on a serene beach. She opens her mouth as if to speak...

Suddenly, doctors and security guards close in around ELI. He runs deeper into the MirrorCorp labyrinth, trying to get to the ground floor and a chance at freedom. But, when he rounds a corner and catches a glimpse of the woman from his memory, he sees a chance to find answers. Forsaking all else, he sneaks after her, desperate to uncover the truth about his identity however sinister the answers may be.

Influences

ELI is reminiscent of both The Matrix and The Twilight Zone. Lee Kwai has also acknowledged Minority Report, 300, the Sci-Fi Channel TV series Battlestar Galactica and video games like Metal Gear Solid as major influences on the visual style of the film. The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano and Hugo Weaving. ... The Twilight Zone title. ... Minority Report is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story of the same name. ... 300 is a 2007 film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller, and is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. ... Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction television program created by Ronald D. Moore that first aired on October 18, 2004 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky One, and January 14, 2005 in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel. ... This article is about the original Metal Gear Solid released for the PlayStation. ...

Trivia

• The producers were high school friends from the Portland, Oregon area. When they came up with the idea for ELI, the four of them shared a modest three-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles.

• During production, the crew arrived at the hospital set to discover the hallway they were scheduled to shoot in that day had been painted bright orange and covered with homicidal phrases and bloody footprints for the music video for “Best of You” by the Foo Fighters.

• The hospital set is the same location used for the first season of the TV show ER.

• The title of the film was originally SLI but was changed shortly before production. The character SLI now has a cameo at the end of the film.

• A toe-tag in the morgue scene is labeled LV-426, a reference to the small moon where humans encounter the hostile creatures in Alien and Aliens.

• A close-up of the character Angel's ID card shows her employee number is 3263827, the serial number of the garbage compactor Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Han Solo get trapped inside in Star Wars.

• The warehouse at Downey Studios used for the final scene was next door to several sets used in Michael Bay’s The Island.

• Lee Kwai works as a trailer editor and is best known for cutting the Evan Almighty trailer.

• Production designer Rob Prior made the electric night sticks used by the security guards out of umbrellas.

• Director of photography Nelson Cragg ended up shooting some of Boogeyman 2 in the same basement hallway used in ELI.

Nickname: Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter Area  - City  145. ... Official language(s) (none)[1] Capital Salem Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 9th  - Total 98,466 sq mi (255,026 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 2. ... Alternative cover (CD2) Best of You is the first single off the fifth album from the Foo Fighters, In Your Honor. ... This article is about the band. ... ER is a long-running, Emmy Award winning American serial medical drama created by novelist Michael Crichton and set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois. ... LV-426 as seen in Aliens LV-426, also known as Acheron and the home of the xenomorph, is the name of the fictitious moon (frequently but erroneously referred to as a planet) where the Alien was first encountered by humans in the movie Alien (1979) of the Alien Series. ... Alien; for other films/spin-offs see Alien (film series) Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alien (film) Alien is a 1979 science fiction / horror film directed by Ridley Scott. ... This article is about the film, for the video games of the same name see Aliens (Square computer game) and Aliens (arcade game). ... Luke Skywalker is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, portrayed by Mark Hamill in the films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. ... Princess Leia Organa Solo of Alderaan (born Leia Amidala Skywalker) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... Chewbacca (or Chewie) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... This movie poster for Star Wars depicts many of the films important elements, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters Star Wars, retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981 (see note at Title,) is the original (and in chronological... Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. ... The Island is a 2005 science fiction film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. ... Movie trailers are film advertisements for films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown; they are commonly known as previews of coming attractions. ... Evan Almighty is a 2007 comedy film, and sequel to the 2003 film Bruce Almighty. ... Boogeyman 2 is a horror film directed by Jeff Betancourt and starring Renee OConnor. ...

External links

• ELI IMdB page
• ELI official website
• ELI MySpace page