Melissa Balint is a Los Angeles based award-winning Writer/Director known for holding a nerdy level of information in her head and a sassy positive attitude on set. Her passion is creating and directing stories that are witty, inclusive, and often magical. Her love for genre is reflected all throughout her life including her Star Wars themed wedding, her fantastical tattoos, and the covertly otherworldly names of her twins. Melissa is mastering the techniques of episodic directing through assisting and shadowing on TV shows she adores both in and out of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy realm. She has been beyond delighted to work on GREY’S ANATOMY, QUANTUM LEAP, LEGACIES, iCARLY, HOW I MET YOUR FATHER, SECRETS OF SULPHUR SPRINGS, & more! As a passionate technical and emotionally evocative director, Melissa has honed her skills in the independant film world with her multi-award-winning films HIGH SCORE, BASED ON A TRUE FLY, and MOM PREP. Her films have run at wonderful film festivals and competitions internationally. She believes the mastery of story is an extremely important skill and has developed that by writing celebrated and multi-award-winning screenplays. Her career has been built with amazing experience writing and directing for brands like COCA-COLA, STELLA ARTOIS, LIPTON, BUICK, KIA, THE FARMER’S DOG, VANDERPUMP RULES, THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA, PINTEREST, VICTORIA’S SECRET, PROJECT RUNWAY, & many more! She attended NEW YORK UNIVERSITY where her first day of school in NYC was 9/11/2001. The four years that followed were of an unprecedented era in NYC that shaped her sense of coming together as a community and creating art that matters. She studied acting at the LEE STRASBERG THEATER & FILM INSTITUTE and STONESTREET STUDIOS through her program at TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS building the fundamental knowledge of the actor’s craft which has been invaluable as an actor’s director. Melissa is a member of many professional groups and programs like WOMEN IN FILM MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, WOMEN IN MEDIA, WOMEN OF COLOR UNITE, & ALLIANCE OF WOMEN DIRECTORS where she is a Board Member and is working hard creating many programs to raise up women and non-binary directors in the industry. Starting from her multi-racial parents meeting and creating a family in a cult in New York City while living in The Bronx, Melissa has innumerable strange, interesting, and unique life experiences that have formed a sharp point of view unlike any other. Even the videos she made at home her whole life demonstrate an empathy, humor, and universal understanding of character that serves her to this day.
