award-winning. genre-bending. binary-breaker.
director /creative + impact producer / writer / editor / proudly queer
Director and filmmaker Melanie D’Andrea tells stories about those who dare to imagine and dream new possibilities; the outsiders, the revolutionaries, the off-beats and those who are before-their-time. With their poetic and magical realism style, D’Andrea blurs the lines between reality and fantasy in order to viscerally invoke the audience to the power within each of us.
Born in Venezuela and raised in South Florida, D’Andrea has directed on television, documentaries, commercials, music videos, and short series. This past year, she directed 4 episodes for NBC/Telemundo’s Vuelve a Mi, now live on air and on Peacock. She is working on a feature documentary about drag kings under her company koh’lectiv, and is in development for her feature dance-film script.
Melanie is a NBCUniversal Launch and Telemundo 2022 Fellow, a Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Mentee and a two-time Directors Guild of America Award recipient for her films ‘South Arcadia St.’ and ‘STAND’. Her work has been featured on attn:, BET, Tribeca, The New Yorker, Billboard and Refinery29. She is an executive producer of ‘The Disruptors’, a live showcase of TV writers of color who are trans, nonbinary, disabled and undocumented or formerly undocumented (2023, 2022. 2021, 2020). She edited ‘Appalachian Futures’ for directors Sally Rubin and Ashley York, which was in exhibition at the Smithsonian, as well as ‘Raising Our Collective Strength’, a docu-series about the Black Church’s role in the liberation movement.
Melanie live-produced the digital film showcase: Beyond Status (2023, 2021), which highlights migrant storytellers who aim to construct new narratives about who they are as migrants in today’s political and personal contexts. She has also collaborated with The Center for Cultural Power on other digital live events such as the Climate Woke Summit (2021), and the No Going Back: A Covid-19 Cultural Strategy Activation Guide (2020).
In 2020 she was an organizer for Street Dance Activism and their Global Dance Meditation for Black Liberation and served as the chair of the Human Rights committee for Young Entertainment Activists, where she also produced the Hollywood Climate Summit (2020).
Melanie has worked as an assistant editor for Mark Harris’ ‘Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine’, Jack White’s PBS/BBC docuseries “American Epic”, Paola DiFlorio’s ‘Awake: The Life of Yogananda’, Janice Engel’s ‘Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins’, and Sara Terry’s ‘A Decent Home’.
Melanie completed her MFA at the University of Southern California in Film and Television Production.
work featured on:
>>> EL CINE COMO /// ACTIVISMO ESPIRITUAL///.
Spiritual activism (n): spirituality for social change, spirituality that posits a relational worldview and uses this holistic worldview to transform one's self and one's worlds.
Inspired by scholar: Gloria E. Anzaldúa
>>> CINEMA AS /// SPIRITUAL ACTIVISM///.
STORIES TOLD AS DIRECTOR.
gaslighting series
>> director. writer. creative producer. docu-short series, trt: 5-minute episodes
logline: A 3-part, impact branded series that explores how to detect gaslighting and how to dismantle it. A collaboration with Spectrum Originals’ show: “Angela Black”.
production company: attn x Spectrum Originals’
dentro de mi
>> director. short documentary, trt: 11 minutes
logline: Five Patients with Multiple Sclerosis face their haunting diagnosis and confront the irreversible, degenerative symptoms that redefine the lives they had imagined.
+ Official Latino Film and Arts Festival | Best Documentary Nominee
+ National Institute of Health Award
+ Library of Congress
+ American Public Health Association Selection
production company: Sonder Films
status: RELEASE 2022
land of the living
>> director. writer. editor. music video
logline: When a resident escapes the monotony of his nursing home to live his dream of being a drag, wild mischief ensues.
production company: Project Greenlight
racial justice in fair housing
>> director. writer. co-creative producer. short videos, trt: 4 minutes each
logline: How did we get to racial injustice in housing? What are the type of discriminatory practices that exist today, and how can we all work towards Fair Housing?
production company: attn x National Association of Realtors
south arcadia st.
>> director. writer. editor. short fiction, trt: 8 minutes
logline: A day at school turns volatile when a traumatized student and a new inner-city teacher inadvertently go head to head.
+ BAFTA | Finalist
+ Tribeca Film Festival | Short of The Week
+ Director’s Guild of America Award
+ HBO Access Finalist
+ SOLD TO: KANOPY
dance docs
>> director. writer. editor. cinematographer. short documentary series.
logline: An uplifting short digital series that highlights inspiring, bold and heartwarming dance stories. Each episode reveals beautiful and powerful truths of a life in movement.
+ Over 5 Million Views on Facebook
+ S.F. Dance Film Festival | Selection
production company: DanceOn
heart + BEAT
>> director. writer. editor. cinematographer.
logline: Heart + Beat brings to light the often unknown realities that individuals from the dance community persevere through. We sit down with contemporary dancer Zach Venegas as he reveals his struggle with mental illness and coming out as a gay man.
production company: DanceOn
stand
>> director. writer. editor. short fiction, trt: 8 minutes
logline:
+ Director’s Guild of America Award
+ Hot Springs | Official Selection
+ Curated for PBS/ KQED “Truly CA”
+ S.F. Dance Film Festival | Best Short Doc
+ S.F. Indie Film Festival | Best Student Doc
+ USC First Look Film Festival | Best Film Finalist
“damage” -mýa -behind-the-scenes
>> director of behind the scenes. editor. cinematographer.
logline: Behind-the-Scenes conversation with Mýa and choreographer Galen Hooks on their message and artistry in the music video “Damage”.
cypher (degree)
>> director. writer. editor. commercial for DEGREE deoderant.
hollywood assistants
>> director. writer. editor. short documentary, trt: 3 minutes
logline: In preparation for the upcoming 92nd Academy Awards, Young Entertainment Activists (YEA!) highlighted the individuals who are always left out of the Oscars conversation: the assistants who work tirelessly on the nominated films!
production company: Young Entertainment Activists
mmiw: missing and murdered indigenous women
>> director. writer. co-creative producer. short video, trt: 2 minutes
logline: A collaboration between attn, Levi’s and VICE, this video highlights a crisis in America: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and how as allies, we hold the power to help indigenous women by using our voices and casting our vote.
production company: attn x Levi’s
immigrant scientists
>> director. writer. co-creative producer. short video, trt: 2 minutes
logline: A collaboration between attn: and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative— highlights the critical role immigrant scientists play in America.
production company: attn x CZI
STORIES TOLD AS PRODUCER.
STORIES TOLD AS EDITOR.
watch trailer
reclaiming our collective strength
>> editor. 5-episode docuseries, trt: 1 hour, 40 minutes
production company: Hush Harbor
logline: The black church is alive and well. See faith in action, as a coalition of clergy and activists rally to organize the church on the frontlines of social justice.
Status: RELEASE 2022
Appalachian Futures
>> editor. short documentary, trt: 5 minutes
logline: A short documentary that is part of the Smithsonian exhibit, FUTURES, which debuts new work by nine award-winning independent filmmakers that all explore: “What do we dream of?”
In Appalachian Futures, discover untold glimpses of a future Appalachia where young people can and want to stay, and the region can thrive.
+ At the Smithsonian November 2021- June 2022
director: Sally Rubin and Ashley York in partnership with the STAY Project.
beyond the echo of the drum
>> editor. short documentary, trt: 20 minutes
logline: Faced with an unfavorable political and economic climate, LA's last remaining black cultural hub stands in jeopardy of being lost. Against all odds, a muralist, activist, and choreographer strive to keep the heritage of this community alive.
+ AWARDS?
director: Lori Webster
interacting with autism
>> co-editor. 2 videos of multimedia project , trt: 30 minutes
logline: Interacting with Autism is a video-based website that presents the most reliable evidence-based information currently available on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
director: Mark Harris
watch trailer
be a scientist
>> editor. 5-episode docuseries, trt: 30 minutes
production company: University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
logline: A short video series that follows kids and their families for 5 years in a program to invigorate Engineering in minority communities through a Family Science educational/field program.
usc first look film festival trailers
>> editor. 2 years, trt: 2-4 minutes
logline: Trailers for the University of Southern California’s yearly “FIRST LOOK” Film Festival. Each trailer had to include visuals from all 50-60 films selected and tell a story.
production company: University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
avocadoland
>> co-editor. 3-episode docuseries, trt: 32 minutes
production company: Tastemade
logline: From avocado seed to a full-grown tree. Watch the Avocados From Mexico growing process.