The Brookturn Company

 

 MELISSA BALIN: PRODUCER / DIRECTOR

Melissa Balin, CEO of The Brookturn Company, Truly Independent Studio and Production Company, was born into the trades and has been trying to remain there ever since.  The 31 year old Indie FilmMaker was raised in Hollywood, the child of two actors and the niece of a film star.  Balin landed her first agent at a holiday party at the age of 5, when she said that she always wanted to be an actress, but she felt that her parents were holding her back.  Unlike most Indie revolutionaries, she has been a proud supporter of the Unions since she joined the Screen Actors Guild at the age of 8. 

At 19, while she worked by day for the Senior Vice President of Production at Viacom, she took the film scraps and overnight telecine sessions generously donated to her and produced her first signatory project, Arioso.  She has continued to work with the unions ever since.  She became a closet writer in her youth, ghostwriting several hits that would have been awkward for her to have a writing credit on, such as Miramax’s urban hit, I Got The Hook-Up (Master P, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and various No Limit recording artists)where she is instead credited as a “Creative Consultant” and was given her street kred moniker, “White Chocolate” by urban mogul, Master P.

During her producing career, this MENSA member is already acknowledged as breaking some of today’s best-known faces onto the big screen, placing stars such as Beyonce, Paris Hilton, Lennon Murphy, Alisa Reyes, and Bobby Alt in their first roles.  Balin is also widely known for her reckless use of cutting-edge technology before anyone else is sure if it is going to actually work:

  • producing the first narrative shot with the Viper FilmStream’s filmless/tapeless camera system
  • the first to use NASA’s HD Satellite Zooms
  • the first to integrate the FilmStream footage with an HD Workflow
  • the first to sell film distribution rights during Cannes on eBay
  • the first to donate 100% of a soundtrack to restoring the damage from the Hurricane
  • the first to convince Laszlo Kovacs, ASC to try shooting HDV in Black & White!

Balin cut her teeth, successfully producing four widely diverse Indie sub-culture international hits, each for under 500k, as well as a string of short format fare, prior to hiring herself for her directorial debut, FreezerBurn The Movie, with an all-star cast of 38 familiar faces (Rachel Hunter, David Faustino, Robert Hays, Hal Linden, Dick Van Patten, Luca Calvani, Bobby Alt, Drena De Niro) for which she received the coveted Golden Scroll Award of Merit from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Outstanding Achievement.  Balin’s further directorial credits indlude a Public Service Announcement for Pain Awareness Month, starring Scott Levy, shot by world-renowned cinematographer, Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, that was shown during the 5th European Congress on Pain in Istanbul and is currently eligible for several CLIO awards; and co-directing a Freedom of Expression video postcard campaign with world-famous pop-culture icon, Shepard Fairey, that the duo launched at SXSW 2006. 

Balin raised capital/resources and produced the following:

  • 35mm feature The Attic Expeditions (Seth Green, Alice Cooper, Jeffrey Combs).
  • Beverly Hood (Destiny's Child,Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Whitaker, Leila Arcieri, Kym Whitley)- shot on 35mm in two weeks for 50k, where Balin is additionally credited as a writer.
  • Players aka Pledge of Allegiance (Freddy Rodriguez, Joe Bologna, Peter Dobson, Jimmy DeBello, James Duval, Lennon Murphy, Alisa Reyes)- feature shot entirely on location in Carson City, Nevada on 35 mm for 350k.
  • Icemaker aka Small Souled Men (Tippi Hedren, Bronson Pinchot, Leo Rossi, Richard Moll)- her first feature shot on 24P HD camera systems.
  • Two specials for Lifetime Television based on the award winning documentary, “Searching for Angela Shelton” as part of their Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
  • Segments around the country for the ”Police Officer Of The Year Award” Specials for Court TV.
  • A 6 1/2 minute Public Service presentation for The Creative Coalition and HD EXPO that Tony Goldwyn directed on Runaway Production, that was shown to members of the United States Congress.
  • Still photo shoots with top WireImage photographer, Jeff Vespa at both the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals for British Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Movieline and other well known publications. 

Balin’s non-profit initiatives include co-hosting several celebrity fundraising events for a myriad of causes from Saving The Monkeys to Breast Cancer and Cancer Research to Feeding the Homeless and she tries to link a non-profit to all revenue generating projects.  She also donates her time as a board member of The Angela Shelton Foundation and Marilyn’s Hope Foundation.