Melina Matsoukas

Melina Matsoukas has made an indelible impact on the entertainment industry with her unique aesthetics and skillful ability to craft high-polish projects with distinct point-of-views. As the first female director to win MTV’s prestigious Best Video Award for Rihanna’s “We Found Love” – a music video that also earned her a Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video – Melina’s work continues to captivate audiences worldwide. With over a billion cumulative views on YouTube and numerous critical acclaims, she has established herself in a league truly of her own. Melina’s work as an executive producer and director on season one of Issa Rae’s breakout HBO series, Insecure, marks her first foray into scripted television. Between directorial stints with Insecure, Melina also became involved with Netflix’s series Master of None, which was created and executive produced by Aziz Ansari. The director brought her nuanced point of view to several season two episodes, including the Emmy Award-winning “Thanksgiving” which featuress a humorous, sensitive, and understated portrayal of black queerness and LGBTQIA relationships. In 2017, Melina conceptualized and directed an ad for Wieden + Kennedy’s “Equality” campaign, which launched in tandem with Black History Month. The ad went on to win a Graphite pencil at the 2017 D&AD Awards and a Bronze Film Craft Lion at the 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Melina also served as creative director for pop icon Beyoncé’s, surprise 2016 album, Lemonade, directing the groundbreaking “Formation” music video. Inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the video led Melina to win the prestigious music Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. Beyond that award, it won six MTV VMA awards, including Video of the Year, as well as the award for Best Music Video at the 2017 Grammys. Melina’s feature film Queen and Slim, written by the incomparable Lena Waithe, is set to premiere at the end of 2019. She is currently developing a number of film and television projects, including an adaptation of Marlon James’ seminal novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings for Amazon Studios.