The Screenwriter And Malibu Squatter - Ellie Mae McNulty

Sandy takes you with her as we discover a private beach in Malibu's beautiful Point Dume area to discuss Elli Mae McNulty, an actor turned screenwriter who allegedly exploits California’s tenancy laws to turn casual stays into protracted eviction wars. When asked to leave the premises, this English Rose transforms into a nasty piece of work. You wouldn’t want to have tea with this woman at separate restaurants. Quoting Vanity Fair writers, Bradley Hope and Tom Wright, “Sure, let a neighbor use the guest room for a few nights. What could go wrong?”

Executive Producer Kristin Overn

Executive Producer Sandy Adomaitis

Producer Terry Sampson

Music by Ethan Stoller

Vanity Fair Article by  BRADLEY HOPE AND TOM WRIGHT.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/serial-squatter-malibu-point-dume?srsltid=AfmBOoqdAQrmQmjiVZHtHCVV9o00imDc44tlluoRCh4xD8HdfPrE33bh

Transcript

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Hello, my name is Sandy Adamidis, the social media director for the Page International Screenwriting Awards and your host for the Writers Hangout, a podcast that celebrates the many From inspiration to the first draft, revising, getting the project made, and everything in between. We'll talk to the best and the brightest in the entertainment industry, and create a space where you can hang out, learn from the pros, and have fun. Hey, rudders and friends, it's Sandy coming to you from Studio City. the jewel of the San Fernando Valley on this cloudy night with a waxing crescent moon an ex-boyfriend once told me he was going to lasso the moon for me. I hadn't seen it was a wonderful life and thought he was a poet. On today's episode, I want to tell you the story of actor and screenwriter Ellie Mae McNulty, who had been using California tenant friendly rental laws to live rent free and bully Malibu residence. Let's set the stage camera action back in September of 2021. On a beautiful day in Malibu. I say beautiful because it is Malibu and statistically weather-wise, it's a good shot. It was indeed a beautiful day. Ellie Mae McNulty ran into her. Next roommate, victim easy. Mark paycheck. Pray. 65-year-old artists and cancer patient living in the point, doom area of Malibu. Eldon Marin, he never saw what was about to happen next A little bit about Ellie Mae. We have this information about Ellie Mae because Eldon the victim in this story has a sister named. Mindy Marin and Mindy is a casting director. She did Claire in Present Danger amongst many other movies, Mindy felt. Hinky about Ellie Mae. The first time her brother even mentioned her on the phone And when everything went crazy with Ellie Mae, Mindy had her brother's back and she did a Herculean job of protecting him. Mindy, there should be a documentary about you and Ellie and I think you should produce it. So here is the information Mindy dug up via a Vanity Fair article entitled The Squatter of Point Doom by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright. I am not gonna read the entire article and I'm gonna do a little paraphrasing, but I highly recommend you read it. I'll put a link into the show notes. Ellie Mae was born in 1975 and grew up in Oxhey Hall, an area near London, where Henry VIII once had a hunting lodge. Oh, Henry, how predictable her father, a communications consultant named John McNulty, had been a director of menza, the British based organization for people with high IQs. But he reportedly resigned amid a scandal over expenses. Hmm. What's that saying about the acorn? He denied Acorn or Apple? He denied. Well, if I was, if I was in Mensa, I would know. He denied wrongdoing and no charges were filed. McNulty attended private school where she fell in love with the theater after a trip to see the Taming of the Shrew. My first theater experience was Madame Butterfly. It was confusing. Why do you take a bunch of school kids to see a woman die by suicide on stage? What, what were the what? What were they thinking when they. Took a bunch of Impressional school kids on a bus. I think my first big bus trip to see a play about a woman who dies by suicide on stage. Okay, let's go on. After high school, McNulty moved to London to pursue her dream of becoming an actor while taking a series of jobs in related fields to pay the bills. According to her LinkedIn profile, she built props and painted sets for the BBC worked for Ridley Scott's commercial production company and became a projectionist at a movie theater. Then, like many aspiring British actors, she tried her luck in the US in 1995. She enrolled as a painting and sculpture student at the Art Students League of New York, according to her LinkedIn page. Then got a foot in the door on Broadway As a production assistant with wait until Dark, A play remembered. If at all For Quentin Tarantino's Wooden performance. Hmm. wait until dark. I remember the movie, uh, the woman was Blind, bad Guys. Were, breaking into her apartment and she used her blindness to outwit the bad guys. Maybe that was on Broadway. I'm sure it was. Audrey Hepburn. I'm thinking Audrey Hepburn. I don't know. I would look that up, but let's continue. Outgoing and vivacious. McNulty got to know the right people Or so she claimed Tarantino taught her New York slang during rehearsals. According to her LinkedIn, and a top Broadway producer hired her as a script reader providing feedback on new plays. She also began to hone her acting skills. in 1998, she auditioned for the new group theaters off-Broadway, production of a British play called the Fastest Clock in the Universe, and landed a leading role as a streetwise 17-year-old Londoner. According to one person involved in the production, McNulty struggled during rehearsals and clashed with the female director. She spent several hundred dollars on a pair of shoes to wear on stage, according to the one person involved in the production. Then burst into tears when she was told that the company didn't have the money to pay for such an expense. But she was cute and sexy, the person said, and with coaching was able to pull off the role. Okay, come on guys. In her defense, she did a couple of green things on her first job. Man, did I do some pretty stupid things on my first jobs, and this was her first play. She didn't study theater or acting. One of the first things that happened to me, during an improv class. it could have been the very first time I was on a stage My teacher yelled at me Sandy, face the audience. You can tell you haven't had an acting class now. I haven't been on stage in a long time, but whenever I am, I face forward the theater. It is not kind. Reviewing the show from the New York Times critic, Peter Marks called McNulty a real find, and she possessed a wicked cackle that pitches upward into the range of a dog herring And a kind of pluck that helps explain why the British triumph in two World Wars, Her career he wrote is No Doubt in Ascendance. This episode of The Writer's Hangout is brought to you by podcast, the podcast for people who want to launch, grow, and monetize. A successful podcast writers have you. Ever thought about starting a podcast? Do you even know where to start? If you said no? I was just like you. Back in 2022 when the writers hangout started. Now why does 2022 ring a bell for you? Oh yeah, we were in a pandemic, which meant none of my incredibly talented friends could drop by and help me brainstorm what to do. I cried a lot of tears and frustration before that first episode was launched. Do you hear me? GarageBand? I wish I had Podcast Craft back then. Podcast Craft takes you from novice podcaster to Confident Broadcaster. They'll teach you how to start and grow successful podcast in their easy to follow sessions. You can find podCraft@podcraft.net, or anywhere you get your podcasts. Back to the show. After the Times review, Sam Cohen, one of the city's top talent agents, took McNulty to Michael's, the Midtown Power Lunch spot, and signed her up, said the person involved in the performance. He said I was going to be a great artist. McNulty wrote on Instagram in January, 2024. Now remember, this play was, ooh, I think 20 years prior. McNulty said Cohen set her up with an audition for the female lead opposite Nicholas Cage in Martin Scorsese's Next film Bring Out the Dead. At the audition, Ellen Lewis Scorsese's, longtime casting director, asked how with so little experience, she managed to secure Cohen as an agent. McNulty wrote in the Instagram post before she even let me read, do my work. I was intimidated and simply said quietly. He came to see me in my first lead role in a play with the new group. In the end, the role in bringing out the dead went to Patricia Arquette Conan soon dropped her. Says the person involved in the performance. McNulty. Got a job reviewing screenplays For Ben Baron Holtz, a Hollywood producer according to her resume and continued to audition for acting parts. In 2023, she landed a minor role in the Sweet Life, a low budget film about a bartender who falls in love with two brothers. From there, things seemed to unravel. She married a British fashion designer based in New York, but soon divorced him. She held down jobs for only a year at a time. According to her LinkedIn page, The film failed to propel her acting career. and so in 2004, she headed to Los Angeles, still hoping to break into show business now on the cusp of her thirties. Her new dream apparently was to make it not so much as an actor. but as a screenwriter, okay, I'm skipping ahead in the article. Okay. Still hoping to break into Hollywood. McNulty sought to cultivate relationships with powerful figures. She met the director David Lynch, at a museum event and began practicing transcendental meditation through his foundation, according to her Instagram. But McNulty has on occasion oversold her career as a screenwriter and overstated her relationship with celebrities. which mostly amounted to passing encounters and photo opportunities. She claimed in one email to a landlord that Mike Voy, the legendary producer involved in one, flew over the Cuckoos Nest, was paying her for a script she was writing, and that was a mirage. Michael Lee Peterson, vice President of Development at Mevo Company, Phoenix. Pictures recalls taking one call from McNulty years ago, but says they had no plans to work with her. In reality, McNulty appeared to be struggling. McNulty rented an extra bedroom from a writer and filmmaker named Jason Gertz and another roommate. At first McNulty was sweet and seemingly innocent. Gertz recalls she failed to pay the security deposit or any rent, but she said a relative would be sending her money soon. She soon moved in without paying anything upfront. Gert says, but then it went on and on and she kept avoiding us and it became pretty obvious two months in that this was a scam. Gerbert says she told him to his face that she wasn't going to pay or leave. I've been here, and this is where I live now. Ger recalls her saying, By this time, according to LA Records, McNulty had been involved in at least four tenancy lawsuits. Some of the lawsuits are sealed, but at least one eviction case was dismissed by the judge. The law, it seemed. Was in her favor. Gert contacted everyone he could find on her Facebook page and began collecting stories in one McNulty had alleged staying at her yoga teacher's house without paying rent. She didn't pay for classes either. It was claimed, but continue to show up for them. All the same when confronted her bubbly persona would evaporate. Gerbert says, although an eviction can take months in California, there are ways to speed up the process. One is to get a judge to issue a civil harassment restraining order, which allows the police to intervene. Even then Ger was told the LAPD is not permitted To forcefully remove a residence. I might have to take umbrage. I think I've always wanted to use that word umbrage cause I just witnessed a tenant being removed forcefully. That's a whole other story. Okay. Gervis was told the LAPD is not permitted to forcefully remove a resident. Instead, they have to persuade the tenant to leave the home, at which point the landlord can then lock the person out. That's what happened to McNulty. According to Gert, the police asked her to step outside to discuss the civil disobedience ruling he had secured. And once she came outside of her own volition and she was basically with the officer, he wouldn't let her go back inside. Gert said, Gerbert. Ravo McNulty moved on to a widow in her eighties who was looking to rent out a room in her Santa Monica bungalow. It was a cute house with a small garden surrounded by trees and flowers. The details of the lawsuit the widows brought against McNulty are sealed according to the source with knowledge of the situation. The widow was so emotionally distraught by the ongoing legal action that she agreed to pay McNulty tens of thousands of dollars to leave her house. By then it's possible. Los Angeles, the scene of so many legal battles was losing its luster for McNulty. Or maybe she wanted to move to even nicer surroundings. so set a course for point doom. according to Wikipedia. you need a gate key to get to the private beach where Ellie Mae and Eldon meet. now if you have a PhD in SoCal beaches, you could push back and say, there are no private beaches in Cali. and I've got a bridge in Brooklyn, I would like to sell to you To help me explain what a beach key is. I went to a real estate site thinking it would have a succinct explanation, and the site is Malibu luxury. Realty. No beach in Malibu is private. However, decades ago, owners in Point Doom were subdividing their large lots and selling them. To put a halt to this, the City of Malibu cut a deal Their offer restricted the owner's right to subdivision properties on point doom, and in return, granted property owners deeded access to private easements leading to the beach. This was done on a street by street basis and some did not accept what makes the beach so special. Most importantly, privacy, public access points to the east and west are far enough. To deter most beach goers from walking around various points and rocks. sometimes too hazardous to traverse, depending on the tide and swell. Okay, time out. I have a traversing the Tide and swell story, but that's a Laguna Beach story involving Eve Plum and Steve Laue. So I'm gonna wait for another episode to tell my. Swell and tide story Which brings us back to that beautiful day on the beach at Point Dune, where Ellie Mae ran into Eldon, the two chatted, and Ellie mentioned she was an actor, turned screenwriter Eldon, an artist, was again, battling cancer and he was also struggling because of the chemo. Oh my god. Chemo. Anyone, anyone who has struggled through chemo, watched someone who go through chemo, it's horrible. And Eldon was depressed and he began to see Ellie not only at the beach but around town and they would stop and talk. And this went on for a few months and he really enjoyed their conversations. Okay. We all know what's coming next, right guys? But Alden's defense, we have Ellie Mae's number already, but you're right. It's exactly what you think. Ellie Mae told Elden she was looking for a place to stay for a few days while waiting for her next place to be available. Eldon invited Ellie Mae to stay with him until her new place was ready. According to Vanity Fair, but days turned into months and the polite and kind guest Elden had welcome, turned, rude, and demanding, Ellie Mae used Elgin's credit cards and flushed cloth napkins down the toilet, clogging the pipes. She asked for$20,000 to leave. This was all too much for poor Eldon who suffered a breakdown and was hospitalized. while Eldon was hospitalized, Ellie Mae changed the luxe on the condo. You see, California law stipulates that. Guess even those who don't pay rent like Ellie Mae can be considered tenants. now after. Elden was locked out of his apartment. His sister Mindy vowed to fight Ellie Mae in court. Yes, Mindy, I love this part of the story. I love that Elden who was sick and had to be hospitalized. Had this person in his corner, Now, Mindy did bring Ellie Mae to court in 2022, and finally a judge ordered Ellie Mae to vacate Elgin's apartment. I'm so happy for them. Now, it doesn't end there because of, some paperwork that Ellie Mae filed, she made a mistake and left contact information regarding the next person that she had signed up to Scam, and Mindy contacted that person and made sure that Ellie Mae wasn't able to scam that person. This is such a sad, strange LA Hollywood showbiz real estate story, and nobody has them like Los Angeles. I've told you many true crime stories about writers. None of them have been alive and current on social media. The only other one I can think of was Grey's Anatomy writer Elizabeth Finch, who faked cancer, but she went dark after her scandal, And I did look up Ellie Mae and You're gonna hate me for this. I, I have a weakness because I saw Ellie Mae with her cats on Instagram and the fact that she kept something besides herself alive. Makes me find her more human than I might have because of the horrible things she's done. I'm not excusing her. you know, I'm not backing this woman up. I just, I'm just putting it out there. It feels different to see her on Instagram with a cat. Now this is making me think of something else. I worked somewhere where there was a huge scandal. Where the writer showrunner has never come back. I was not part of the creative side. I was part of a different side and I remember how I felt about the kids. I loved, The kids, you know what? That's another story. let's make a note and we shall talk about that. I also looked her up on Twitter and she hasn't posted since November 7th, 2019, and she wrote Cheers. Friends coming back home, prayers. Answered. Grateful for all your good vibes, prayers and love, Malibu. Strong. Thank you. Faith. Exo, exo, exo, heart, smiley face. Smiley face, smiley, face with heart, eyes. also. There's a gif, that's how I pronounce it. It's two peanuts characters. It's of the lesser known, but recently become kind of a little icon. Emily. she's the dancing girl in the purple dress, and the boy next to her is known now, just recently as the proto running man now, this is just my opinion, but I think Emily, that character, the girl in the purple dress reminds Ellie Mae of herself, and that's just my opinion. You know what could have been? Also what happened in Malibu in 2019? Well, in Malibu in 2019, we had the devastating Woolsey fire causing widespread destruction. it led to evacuation orders for residents and resulted in significant property damage. So by posting this in November. Was Ellie Mae killing a bunch of birds with one hot massage stone? This message is vague. Does it mean she was going back home to Malibu because she was evacuated? It leads people to think, oh yeah, Ellie Mae, she has a home here, and while she's quirky, she belongs here. I'll let her stay in my guest house another week. And that's a wrap for the Writer's Hangout. Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Your positive feedback will help us keep the show going so we can continue bringing you more future episodes. Remember, keep writing. The world needs your stories. The Writers Hangout is sponsored by the Page International Screenwriting Awards, with executive producer Kristen Overn, producer Sandy Adamides, and myself, Terry Sampson. And our music is composed by Ethan Stoller.