Rebel with a Clause Film Screening

Rebel with a Clause

The film: A grammar guru takes her pop-up grammar advice stand on a road trip across all 50 US states to show that comma fights can bring us closer together in a divided time.

Directed by: Brandt Johnson

Starring: Ellen Jovin

One fall day in 2018, Ellen Jovin set up a folding table on a Manhattan sidewalk with a sign that said “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 filmmaker husband, Brandt Johnson, took the table on the road, visiting all 50 US states as Brandt shot the grammar action.

Media outlets across the country celebrated the adventures of the Grammar Table in over 100 print, radio, and television stories.

People from every imaginable background visited the table to share a laugh, settle disputes, and talk about their grammar insecurities.

These conversations took place in small towns and big cities, by bookstores and coffee shops, on beaches and mountainsides.

But this story transcends grammar. It’s the story of an epic quest to bring us all closer together. In a time of extreme social and political division, the Grammar Table is a place of unity and connection. The conversations at the table help answer the question “How can we all get along?”

Come for the grammar. Stay for the humanity.

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 is coming out in May 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.

This is Brandt’s first feature film. Before this project, he was the writer, director, and star of Brad Advice, a comedy web series about which the New York Daily News raved, “Brad Advice knocks it out of the park.”

Brandt has written and performed in three plays (the New York Times praised his “sharp writing”), and he is the author of the book Practical Presentation Skills: Authenticity, Focus & Strength (Hachette).

Brandt is a co-founder with Ellen of the communication skills consulting and training firm Syntaxis. A former investment banker and speechwriter, he has trained executives of major corporations around the world. Also a lifelong athlete, Brandt played professional basketball in Europe and on tour against the Harlem Globetrotters.

He graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in mathematics and earned an M.B.A. in finance from the NYU Stern School of Business.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Main | Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, United States