Americans care a lot about grammar. How much, you ask? It's a good question. That's what filmmakers Ellen Jovin and her husband, Brandt Johnson, set out to learn when they made the documentary film, "Rebel With a Clause." Both join the Exchange to talk about their recently released film, and Ellen's book, "Rebel With a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian."
ABOUT THE FILM
One fall day, Ellen Jovin set up a folding table on a Manhattan sidewalk with a homemade sign that read “Grammar Table.” Right away, passersby began excitedly asking questions, telling stories, and filing complaints. What happened next is the stuff of grammar legend. Ellen and her husband, Brandt Johnson, took the table on the road, visiting all 50 states as Brandt shot the grammar action. But this story transcends grammar. It’s the story of an epic quest in a divided time to bring us all closer together.
FILM SCREENINGS
Sept 20: The Salem Cinema
Sept 21: Eugene Art House
BIO
Ellen Jovin is the founder of a traveling pop-up grammar advice stand known as the "Grammar Table." She's the author of the 2022 national bestseller "Rebel with a Clause" and has answered grammar questions from total strangers on the streets of all 50 states. Ellen is an internationally acclaimed grammar and language expert. Her most recent book, called "Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian," was published by HarperCollins and quickly became a national bestseller. It has already been translated into Russian and the paperback edition of the English version was published in the spring of 2025.
Ellen has written three other books on writing/grammar (Hachette) and is a co-founder with Brandt of the communication skills consulting and training firm Syntaxis. Ellen has studied more than 25 languages with a total of nine different writing systems, which she blogged about for years as part of a project she called “Words & Worlds of New York.”
Earlier in her career, she worked as a freelance reporter and taught writing at New York University and other area colleges. She has a B.A. in German studies from Harvard University and an M.A. in comparative literature from UCLA.
