Erika Salima Ellis was born in Philadelphia and grew up in both southern New Jersey and Philly. Erika spent her early childhood enamored with “Tootie” from THE FACTS OF LIFE…so much so that, as an elementary school student, she chose to go to boarding school. What Erika would not know about her choice until move-in day was that she was making history as a member ofthe first group of girls ever to be admitted to the formerly all-male Girard College boarding school. Thus began Erika’s 10-year journey navigating an extraordinarily unique elementary through high school experience during which storytelling and narratives became a survival skill. After Erika graduated from G.C.’s high school she attended college for one year, but it wasn’t abig enough change for her after G.C. so she decided to pursue a military career. Erika’s commitment to storytelling, which by now had become a full-blown writing hobby, never wavered as she worked to complete her service in the Navy. It also made her realize she needed to spread her wings beyond the limits of the aviation electronics career she solidified while serving. As a freshly minted US Navy Gulf War-era veteran, Erika believed she was following her dreams into the world of finance…right between September 11th and the 2008 crash. She’s grateful that the crash forced her out of the finance world and, luckily, her knack for weird timing and life-plan pivoting came in handy again when she had to find yet another new career path. With that, Erika completed her degree in Public Relations from Rowan University, and then she found herself thrust into the elite world of the NYC fashion industry. Working on Fashion Week projects naturally led her to the world of A-list celebrity events, which allowed her to see the potential her writing hobby could reach. From that mountaintop, Erika finally started writing scripts and working on independent productions, and she finally got the right exposure and found her love of film. All the worlds and characters she encountered thus far found life again in the stories that are solely hers to tell. Now living in Los Angeles, Erika writesTV pilots, features, and she also produces short films as a hobby.