USC graduate featured in short film
Ella Gans of Upper St. Clair was recently featured in a short film created by the Blackburn Center and East Suburban Citizen Advocacy, located in Westmoreland County. The video titles: “Abuse: There is Support,” aims to support individuals with disabilities who have been impacted by abuse.
Gans was drawn to the project because of its important subject matter.
“I’ve seen the effects abuse can have on a person,” she said. “It’s awful, and if there’s anything at all I can do to help people understand the topic, I want to do it.”
This video is the first of a series of short segments on the topic of abuse.
“Abuse is a difficult subject to cover, but it’s one that needs to be talked about. It isn’t always easy to recognize abusive behavior, especially with emotional abuse,” Gans said.
“You can sort of trick yourself into thinking that what’s being done to you is normal, or that you deserve it, or even that what’s happening is your own fault. Even if someone you know recognizes the abusive behavior, you might not listen to them, or maybe think that they’re overreacting.”
To land the part Gans answered an open casting call.
“It was pretty cool,” she said. “When we got to filming, I was given simple choreography and was asked to look at the camera and say the line. It took a few takes to get it all right, but overall, it was fairly quick.”
Although the 2020 USC graduate has not done a lot of other on-camera work, she has been voice acting for a few years. She has been in a handful of professional projects. Gans also has a YouTube channel called EllaGVA. She uses it to practice voice acting or for posting videos.
A Kenyon College freshman, Gans is a drama major.