Meet the Ellises

Crystal and Lee Ellis of the Carson-based South Bay Talent Group are exemplars of creatives choosing not wait for a record label or the Hollywood elite to recognize their talent. They are the vanguards of creatives who already understood the assignment before film and television mogul Tyler Perry issued parting advice to dreamers after accepting the Chairman Prize of the NAACP Image Awards two years ago: “There are people whose lives are tied into your dream. Own your stuff, own your business, own your way.”

The Ellises South Bay Talent Group produce films for streaming platforms such as Tubi, Prime video, Youtube, Hoopla and have four films slated for release in 2022.

Crystal and Lee met when Crystal produced her first film in 2005, Slumber Party. After putting out several films in quick succession, with Lee starring in a number of them, Crystal and Lee fell in love, got married and started a family. They went on hiatus for a decade, shifting their attention to raising their two children.

Crystal and Lee formed a new LLC as a married couple in 2017 after a couple of business partners they had started out with had decided to leave the entertainment business altogether.

We’ve been working with the same core team since we started fifteen years ago,” Crystal explained. A 2003 alumnus of Cal State Dominguez with a degree in media production, Crystal explained that one of her sound-production teachers challenged her and her classmates to buy a prosumer camera (a hybrid of a consumer and professional camera, as the name implies).

“So I bought my first prosumer camera and shot my first feature film,” Crystal said. “From there I thought this was kind of cool. We would come up with a story, We envisioned it. We [her and her team] pooled our resources together, then we go out there and shot it.”

Crystal’s vision for South Bay Talent Group was for it to feel like the experience she had making her first film — working with the same core talent team, with all of them growing and helping each other succeed in their own right and get to the next level.

“It’s very competitive for actors to get those big gigs,” Crystal noted. “And so we kind of give them a platform and an opportunity.”

Crystal said that there are a lot of talented people in the South Bay who are steadily knocking on Hollywood’s door, but noted that nobody’s answering. She called South Bay Talent Group a second avenue for actors working with them. However, Crystal was clear that she and her husband weren’t just doing this to lift up other artists.

“We’re building our own bridge as well,” she said. “As a screenwriter, ultimately my goal is to be part of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and be part of the PGA (Producers Guild of America) and I’m creating my own path to do so.”

When Crystal and Lee started in 2003, it was different. The couple noted that there weren’t as many platforms then as there are today.

“Our first movie (Slumber Party) wasn’t at Blockbuster. [It] was actually on Netflix when Netflix first hit the scene between 2006 and 2008,” Crystal said. “It was an ultra low budget, independent, urban film on Netflix.”

We’re talking about the days when Netflix’s primary business model was shipping DVDs to people’s homes.

“A lot of people used to get their stuff seen that way,” Crystal explained. “It’s a little bit harder to get on Netflix now for super ultra low budget, urban films.”

But the Ellises can still say their work was on Netflix, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video.

“Today, it’s a little bit easier now,” Crystal said. “There are so many streaming platforms that you can get on. And people can take advantage of that now. They don’t have to have the super fancy cameras so they can essentially shoot from anywhere, and it’s a little easier to get distribution and you can self distribute if you want.”

Indeed, South Bay Talent Group films will be available on streaming platforms including, Prime Video, Crackle, Tubi, Roku, Pluto, IMDb Tv, Redbox, Youtube, Vudu and more.

A lot of the couple’s catalog are urban or romantic comedies and that was mainly because they were easier to shoot. However, one of the new films to be released in 2022 is a drama centered on lowrider culture called Shine Kings.

“You know, we’re not pigeon-holed into just one specific genre but we want to tell the stories that relate to urban audiences,” Crystal said.

The Other Half
Crystal writes the screenplays for all the films, while her husband comes up with ideas and concepts for many of the projects. He actually met Crystal on the set of her first film, in which she starred. But filmmaking isn’t the extent of his talents.

Lee is also a self-taught chef who was invited onto Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Special in 2009. He had since started Burn With Your Boy catering and Burn With Your Boy hot sauce. He started off just cooking for family and friends until he started receiving phone calls for larger engagements.

“I would help my wife and cook for family and friends,” Lee said. “Then some of my buddies were calling, ‘Hey man, how much would it cost for you to just cook a little special dinner for me and my wife.’ And it just grew from there.”

Then Lee started making beef jerky, but there were so many different regulations that he started to make jerky only for his buddies.

“I like smoking meats, but I specialize in American soul food and barbecue,” Lee said. “I started making beef jerky, but there were so many different regulations. So I make jerky for my buddies.”

Then his wife, said, “You should just make hot sauce.”

He saw recipes on how to make hot sauce and grew confident that he would do it too while adding his special magic into the mix.

Out of that bit of inspiration from his wife and his love of food and cooking, Lee created Burn With Your Boy hot sauce and opened Burn With Your Boy catering.

Lee said he plans to get a truck and brick-and-mortar restaurant one day. He’d like to open up a spot in Mid-City Los Angeles or Carson.

“You come to the restaurant and read the script and have a burger, have some wings on a stick, and just bring that whole L.A. culture,” Lee said. “I want you to walk out of there feeling good and full.”

Lee has a couple of comfort foods he specializes in, such as stuffed pasta, which includes turkey or ground beef with sauteed vegetables, sometimes topped with cottage cheese, and garlic.

The other comfort food is entirely dedicated to showing off his Burn With Your Boy hot sauce: potato tacos.

The hot sauce has a flavor that doesn’t burn your face off. Lee also prepares healthy dishes, an assortment of salads and non-meat alternatives.

Movies to Watch
A quick perusal of Crystal and Lee’s IMDb pages reflects the hiatus. They went back to shooting films in 2020. In a year’s time, they completed four films — the fourth one was delivered a week before Thanksgiving. The pandemic didn’t slow this couple down at all as they shot as often as they could while observing all CDC guidelines.

Hanging on to Love (comedy)
The film protagonist, Jewel, cannot catch a break in anything from the clothing design business to finding love. Coming to streaming platforms on Jan. 11, 2022.

Trip Slip (comedy)
Three homeboys plead with their wives to let them have one night out to celebrate what they consider an achievement–the completion of paying child support. Coming to streaming platforms in 2022.

Cheddy Ace (comedy)
Always down on his luck, Cheddy Ace has 24 hours to repay a hood loan to a few gangsters or pay the ultimate price. Reluctantly, his nephews fall for his sob story and go on a scavenger hunt to help him come up with the money. Coming to streaming platforms in 2022.

Shine Kings (drama)
Two rival car clubs battle it out for the top prize in the most recognized car show on the west coast. When the leader of one club thinks that he was set up by the girl he fell in love with, all bets are off. Coming to streaming platforms in 2022.

Details: southbaytalentgroup.com/ • burnwithyourboy.com/