Residency Artist - Media

Melissa Godoy

P.O. Box 20221
Cincinnati, OH  45220-0221
Phone: (513) 591-2922
Cell Phone: (513) 550-2227
Email: melissagodoy@mac.com

Filmmaking draws on every art and skill within a production team. From creative writing to electronics, music composition to costume design, entrepreneurship to putting out fires -- there is not a talent within a group that goes unused. My method is to pull a team together in the telling of one eloquent story that is personal and meaningful to the participants, allowing for discoveries that are possible only in the arts. Imagination, sense of humor and ability to solve problems collaboratively are the most important tools for this journey. My work is interdisciplinary, incorporating principles of visual fine arts, music, literature, theatre, and journalism. Whether the project is documentary or fiction, the ultimate value is only as good as the curiosity of the group. Together, we use the creative process to discover. I can lead groups through the entire experience of making a short film, documentary, or play. Or we can focus on one aspect, such as the writing of an original collaborative script; finding hidden reality through observation and improvisation; or experiencing many creative approaches to photography, editing, and storytelling. I'm interested in working with middle and high school students, nonprofit arts and service organizations and older adults.

I have been working in this field for 25 years, on projects spanning from award-winning PBS documentaries, to 30-second commercials, to improvisational comedy and new theatre. My current work includes shooting a documentary called Rebirth of Over-the-Rhine, about current redevelopment in Cincinnati's historic core neighborhood. I was also recently Line Producer of The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, an HBO Documentary Film by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, about the last days of the General Motors Moraine Assembly Plant. I enjoy experimenting with film and have worked on arts pieces with fun, creative challenges and unique structures, such as the HD exhibit in the Cincinnati Wing of the Cincinnati Art Museum, two projects in various capacities for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and a stop-motion animated fantasy with Passion Works Studio in Athens. This year I collaborated with an Alzheimer's daycare group at Mercy Franciscan at West Park to produce an improvisational comedy-documentary called Runaway Train, the process of which taught me a world about the resilience of people with memory loss. A documentary called Advent produced with another Cincinnati retirement home, Twin Towers, revealed the strength of faith and community while facing an uncertain future. Other recent professional work has included a documentary about creative aging narrated by Walter Cronkite called Do Not Go Gently; line producing the primetime Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary, A Lion in the House by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert; short narrative films, comedic 48 Hours projects, a musical expression about Cincinnati's Hispanic community, as well as a body of documentaries and dramas developed with Vietnam War refugee teenagers.. I've traveled to Southeast Asia and Latin America, and I speak Spanish.

I earned a B.S. in theatre from Northwestern University, with a certificate in Creative Writing for the Media. Along with four years of technical theatre, I was fortunate to be in an intensive multi-year acting program that propelled my classmates and me through history, literature, and layers of human experience. The most important lesson I learned from my excellent professors was how to learn -- for the rest of my life. As a high school student, I studied journalism at the college level, forming a foundation of ethics that supports all else. I currently teach college level scriptwriting. Recent awards include a Best Electronic Media Award from the American Society on Aging, Gold World Medal in Humanities at the New York Film and Video Festivals, Susan Shinagawa LiveSTRONG Cancer Control Leadership Award, and Emmys.