On April 30, 2006 - around the time when »Hard Candy« and »X-Men: The Last Stand« came out and Ellen's international career eventually took off - this website initially launched in a German version only under ellen-page.net with an English edition following under further domains just a few months later. The overall concept was to support one of Canada's most promising young female acting talents in every way possible and allow the fans from all around the world to connect with the actress' work. Today we can still proudly say that we are here to provide you the latest updates and information on Ellen Page. Over the last 10 years this project has gone through many good times and a few rough ones (it's not always possible to pursue a hobby in the face of changing living conditions and varying workloads for example), but in the end I strongly believe the positives have by far outweighed the negatives. Apart from that, such a long running time is a great achievement alone; especially if you consider that it is still largely maintained by the same people.
One of the highlights was definitely Ellen's interview with the San Francisco Chronicle on December 13, 2007, where she publicly mentioned this site for the first time (thanks to the kind journalist Walter Addiego who wrote the article it was even possible to obtain a print copy of it). The Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 2008, Ellen's overwhelming Facebook posting on December 7, 2010 and our forum member Chelsea Clocksin appearing as an extra in Drew Barrymore’s »Whip It« left an everlasting memory as well.
I, the creator and webmaster of EPO, will also never forget how I traveled 700 kilometers by train across the country to see »The Tracey Fragments« at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2007. Furthermore it was always a pleasure to receive recognition and support from companies like 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Germany, Mammoth Advertising, Team Coco Digital, Rhino Records, capelight pictures and Koch Media GmbH as well as filmmakers and producers like Barry Mendel (»Peacock«), Maryam Henein (»Vanishing of the Bees«), Jonathon Kay (»Naya: Legend Of The Golden Dolphin«) or Tommy O'Haver (»An American Crime«) that provided press material, giveaways and useful information at first hand.
A fan site can also only be as good as the people behind it. For this reason, I would like to expressly thank all contributors and companions who came together to make this possible and made EPO what it is today. My sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes out to Wayne MacNaughton and Trisha North for their tireless work as proofreaders as well as advisors and being always on the spot; to Mireille Lanser, the good soul of this project and the girl behind EllenPageCanadian on Instagram and Tumblr, who just joined the team in August 2015, is already indispensable and I consider one of the best friends I've ever had. Also to Jim Hodgkinson, the first proofreader and long-term staff member, and to the group of active and former forum moderators including Milo de Villiers, Daniel Freer, Lori Moore, Michael Meyhoefer and Jaimie Etkin. On a day like this, I also would like to remember those that are no longer with us like our forum moderator and good friend Allan Trick (✝1952-2012), who unexpectedly and suddenly passed away on December 10, 2012. He's gone but not forgotten and will always be a part of EPO and will be in our hearts forever!
At the moment there are several things in the making, but due to spare leisure time it wasn't possible to finalize them so far. Here's a quick overview on what we are currently working on:
a completely new design and layout of the website, including a responsive version in order to make it ready for mobile devices and different kinds of screen resolutions.
a portal page where you can see the latest news and updates at a glance. This will also involve a two-parted news system with a section dedicated to quick updates and a blog for longer and more extensive postings such as festival reports and press releases.
a fresh design for the image gallery including a mobile theme.
a redesign of the audio section to present you the latest podcasts in more modern fashion.
a media gallery containing the latest video clips which will allow you to dynamically browse and watch the footage you are looking. For this reason we also stopped updating the existing video section since we don't want to put further efforts in something that will be replaced in the foreseeable future anyway.
However, we are not celebrating empty-handed today. In the past hours we have added no less than 800 new images to the gallery including over 100 outtakes from various photoshoots over the last few years, which you have surely never seen before!
We hope you enjoy this update and that you continue to stay with us on this wonderful journey! As mentioned many times before, we are really happy about any kind of feedback and contribution we get from the fans of Ellen, our visitors and followers. So don't be shy and drop us a line in the comment section below. Feel free to get in touch with us via email, the contact form, Twitter or Facebook and share your thoughts, suggestions and ideas with us. Since such a website cannot be upheld with hard work, dedication and devotion only, donations are greatly welcomed in order to cover the monthly costs and occasional extra expenses. Needless to say that the submission of your own photos and video footage related to Ellen is always much appreciated as well. Generally speaking, there are many, many ways to support and get involved with Ellen Page Online – your best source dedicated to Ellen Page! In this sense, Happy 10th anniversary and we look forward to the next 10 years!
on behalf of #TeamEPO
Germany - April 30, 2016