BIO
Melanee's career spans film, television and stage. A creator who knows no bounds, she garnered a development deal with Time Warner under the supervision of music legend, Quincy Jones, for the pilot script, The White Guy. Melanee is currently working on a new series with Mosaic Entertainment, helmed by show runner Greg Ball, best known for the hit Fox TV series, Bones. Her short film Race Anonymous has won awards for Best Drama, Best Produced Screenplay (among others) in festivals around the United States and Canada. Her indie drama, The Trial Of Miss Mudimbe, has landed her Special Mention and nominations for Best Director at various festivals including the Hamilton Black Film Festival. Other awards include: Best Actress, Best Script and Best Production for her critically acclaimed, comedy solo theatre show, The 'Hoodwink, which she also made into a film short of the same name.
Melanee is currently in post production on two projects, The Invincible Jayson Garvey - a speculative fiction journey into the aftermath of a "stand your ground" shooting of an unarmed African American boy and The Invisible Bruise, an exploration of domestic violence. The script for The Invincible Jayson Martin received a twenty thousand dollar funding award from Calgary Arts Development and was also selected for the Women In The Director's Chair Career Accelerator Program in St. John's. It was also shortlisted for Telefilm's Talent To Watch program by Women In The Director's Chair. The Invisible Bruise was produced as part of the Artist As Changemaker Cohort at the Trico Changemaker Studio for the non-for-profit organization Sagesse, which is dedicated to ending domestic violence.
As an actor, Melanee can be seen as Valerie seen in the Hallmark movie, Meet Me At Christmas, as Chrissy in APTN's Tribal, in the award winning feature film, Jasmine Road, the indie short Black and Blue, the City TV/CBC series Young Drunk Punk, the series Judging Amy, Law and Order, Joe Pickett (currently in production with Paramount) and others. She played Tori on the Nickoledeon Show, 100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd, Bess in the feature film KPAX with Jeff Bridges and Alfre Woodard and made appearances on 24, Everybody Loves Raymond and others. Melanee has continued to write and perform, receiving both awards and critical acclaim in a number of genres, including acting, directing, writing and producing.
Melanee's play, The Venus of Basin Street, (aka Nothing Like The Sun) premiered to critical acclaim in Calgary along with her solo show The 'Hoodwink which has premiered to outstanding awards, reviews and ovations in Calgary and New York. Her sequel to Race Anonymous, Do The Math, was an official selection for the Creation International Film Festival and the Hollywood Verge Film Awards.
Melanee began her professional life at the Baltimore School For The Arts at age fourteen, when she began performing dramas for PBS, Arena Stage and other production entities and spent part of her time acting in the aforementioned TV shows in Los Angeles and New York City. She received her Bachelor of The Arts degree from Bennington College in Vermont. At Bennington, she studied dramatic writing under Peter Hedges (About A Boy, What's Eating Gilbert Grape). She continued performing outside of school in New York an L.A. Between Los Angeles and New York, Melanee has found mentorship as a writer under Taylor Nichols (Barecelona, Castle Rock, Mind of A Married Man, HBO) and Will Scheffer (Big Love, HBO) for her plays Me & Mahatmas and A Good Jones respectively.
Melanee's career spans film, television and stage. A creator who knows no bounds, she garnered a development deal with Time Warner under the supervision of music legend, Quincy Jones, for the pilot script, The White Guy. Melanee is currently working on a new series with Mosaic Entertainment, helmed by show runner Greg Ball, best known for the hit Fox TV series, Bones. Her short film Race Anonymous has won awards for Best Drama, Best Produced Screenplay (among others) in festivals around the United States and Canada. Her indie drama, The Trial Of Miss Mudimbe, has landed her Special Mention and nominations for Best Director at various festivals including the Hamilton Black Film Festival. Other awards include: Best Actress, Best Script and Best Production for her critically acclaimed, comedy solo theatre show, The 'Hoodwink, which she also made into a film short of the same name.
Melanee is currently in post production on two projects, The Invincible Jayson Garvey - a speculative fiction journey into the aftermath of a "stand your ground" shooting of an unarmed African American boy and The Invisible Bruise, an exploration of domestic violence. The script for The Invincible Jayson Martin received a twenty thousand dollar funding award from Calgary Arts Development and was also selected for the Women In The Director's Chair Career Accelerator Program in St. John's. It was also shortlisted for Telefilm's Talent To Watch program by Women In The Director's Chair. The Invisible Bruise was produced as part of the Artist As Changemaker Cohort at the Trico Changemaker Studio for the non-for-profit organization Sagesse, which is dedicated to ending domestic violence.
As an actor, Melanee can be seen as Valerie seen in the Hallmark movie, Meet Me At Christmas, as Chrissy in APTN's Tribal, in the award winning feature film, Jasmine Road, the indie short Black and Blue, the City TV/CBC series Young Drunk Punk, the series Judging Amy, Law and Order, Joe Pickett (currently in production with Paramount) and others. She played Tori on the Nickoledeon Show, 100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd, Bess in the feature film KPAX with Jeff Bridges and Alfre Woodard and made appearances on 24, Everybody Loves Raymond and others. Melanee has continued to write and perform, receiving both awards and critical acclaim in a number of genres, including acting, directing, writing and producing.
Melanee's play, The Venus of Basin Street, (aka Nothing Like The Sun) premiered to critical acclaim in Calgary along with her solo show The 'Hoodwink which has premiered to outstanding awards, reviews and ovations in Calgary and New York. Her sequel to Race Anonymous, Do The Math, was an official selection for the Creation International Film Festival and the Hollywood Verge Film Awards.
Melanee began her professional life at the Baltimore School For The Arts at age fourteen, when she began performing dramas for PBS, Arena Stage and other production entities and spent part of her time acting in the aforementioned TV shows in Los Angeles and New York City. She received her Bachelor of The Arts degree from Bennington College in Vermont. At Bennington, she studied dramatic writing under Peter Hedges (About A Boy, What's Eating Gilbert Grape). She continued performing outside of school in New York an L.A. Between Los Angeles and New York, Melanee has found mentorship as a writer under Taylor Nichols (Barecelona, Castle Rock, Mind of A Married Man, HBO) and Will Scheffer (Big Love, HBO) for her plays Me & Mahatmas and A Good Jones respectively.