Authors — Melissa Miller Costanzo
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“If I Ever Need to Rob a Bank…”: Melissa Miller Costanzo on Directing the Romantic Comedy The List
I got a call from my agents, and they told me they had a script they wanted me to read. It was called The List, a broad romantic comedy about a woman who finds out her fiancé had slept with someone on his celebrity free pass list, so she decides to go to Los Angeles and try to get with someone from hers. My initial thoughts were, great concept, and why me? When I finished the script my thoughts were, needs some work, and why me? My first film was something I had written and directed called All These Small […]
by Melissa Miller Costanzo on Aug 22, 2023 -
Reflections from a First-Time Director After Shooting All These Small Moments
Melissa Miller-Costanzo recently wrote for Filmmaker about how she moved from below-the-line production work as an art department coordinator to the writer/director of an independent feature, All These Small Moments. Here, she follows up that article with this reflective piece about all the things she learned on her 18-day first-time shoot. “Okay, here’s some dialogue, we won’t hear it, it’s just something so your mouths will be moving. You’re coming home from a parent-teacher conference and discussing your son’s issues; that’s why you’re together.”Alright, and ACTION! “Um, Melissa,” a PA walkie’d me from outside while I watched the monitor inside. […]
by Melissa Miller Costanzo on Jun 26, 2017 -
From BTL to ATL: How I Went from Art Department Coordinator to Director
The production designer Kelly McGehee called me one afternoon. I had been a production PA on a film we had both worked on. She told me she was starting a new movie and asked if I knew any art department coordinators. I didn’t — in fact, I didn’t even know what one was. But like any ambitious young person I did what you do in that situation: I said, “I can do it.” Not knowing what Google was yet, I hung up and did what you used to do when facing questions such as this one: call an actual human […]
by Melissa Miller Costanzo on Apr 14, 2017
