After graduating from Howard University in the nations capital with a degree in political science/pre-law, Melvin James worked as the Director of Community Organizing for a major housing development corporation and organized numerous youth camps and programs for neighborhood youth in his hometown of Newark, NJ. His career in film took flight when one of his scripts was optioned by New Line Cinema with Jim Carrey slated to play lead. So Melvin heeded his call and made the decision to pursue a career in film full time. Melvin has worked as a Producer, Production Manager, Production Coordinator, Assistant Director, and a host of other positions on films such as Night Falls On Manhattan, The Devil's Own, Ransom, Donnie Brasco, and Godzilla, just to name a few. He has also worked under such acclaimed directors as Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, Roland Emmerich, Mike Newell, Spike Lee and Ron Howard. This experience has afforded Melvin the opportunity to learn from the best, and to develop his own style of writing and directing. His debut feature film, "King of Hearts" received rave reviews and critical acclaim and set the tone for his no holds barred and clever styled approach to making movies. Melvin followed up his feature film debut with "Honeybee" for Artisan Entertainment and "A Miami Tail" for Lion's Gate Films. Among directing several award winning short films and hit television shows like "College Hill" on BET, his feature film the hit indy comedy "Still A Teen Movie" broke the top 100 most downloaded films list on itunes for the first month of it's release. Melvin James' latest short films, "While The Cats Away" which he directed and "Life After Her" which he co produced, were both official selections of the 2013 and 2017 Cannes International Film Festival respectively. Melvin James is currently in pre-production on directing his latest short film, "Therapeutic Shift" for Academy Award submission as well as the upcoming television series "Brooklyn Breed".
Unique traits: Photographer, Creative Direction, Acting Coach
Nancy
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Film
Director
Life After Her
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Film
Producer
Pause
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Film
Director
The Spirited Actor
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TV Series
Director
While the Cat's Away
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Film
Director
Still a Teen Movie
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Film
Director
Dat's Tite TV
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Video
Director
Video Vixens
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Video
Director
With Friends Like These
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TV Series
Director
King of Hearts
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Video
Director
Benji Brown: In Touch with Reality
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Video
Director
College Hill
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TV Series
Director
A Miami Tail
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Film
Director
Honeybee
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Film
Director
Comedy Only in da Hood
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Video
Editor
Godzilla
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Film
Miscellaneous Crew
Meet Joe Black
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Film
Miscellaneous Crew
Donnie Brasco
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Film
Miscellaneous Crew
Ransom
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Film
Miscellaneous Crew
Night Falls on Manhattan
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Film
Miscellaneous Crew
Therapeutic Shift
Director
Harvard Business School