Mel Eslyn (born August 19, 1983) is an American film producer, director and writer. She works primarily in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

independent film industry and has collaborated with

Lynn Shelton Lynn Shelton (August 27, 1965 – May 16, 2020) was an American filmmaker, known for writing, directing, and producing such films as ''Humpday'' and ''Your Sister's Sister''. She was associated with the mumblecore genre. Early life Shelton was b ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

and

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films '' The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and ''Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, ...

on numerous films. She is best known for producing '' The One I Love'' (2014) and ''

Lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

'' (2015), for which she won an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

. She acts as the President of

Duplass Brothers Productions Duplass Brothers Productions is an American independent film and television production company founded by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, two brothers who are also actors, directors, producers and writers. They have produced films such as ''The Puff ...

Early life

Eslyn was born in 1983 in

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States, and is part of the Greater Milwaukee area. The population was 35,626 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous village in Wisconsin. It is the fourth largest commun ...

. She attended Pewaukee High School and graduated in 2001. She was inspired to become a filmmaker after seeing the music video for " Somewhere Out There", a song from the animated film ''

An American Tail ''An American Tail'' is a 1986 American animated musical adventure film directed by Don Bluth from a screenplay by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss and a story by David Kirschner, Freudberg and Geiss. The film features the voices of Phillip Glass ...

''. She worked on film sets in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

as a teenager, beginning at the age of 14, and was a production assistant on the 2002 film '' No Sleep 'til Madison''.

Career

Eslyn worked in the

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

film industry before moving to

in 2008. She entered the Seattle independent film industry through Seattle-based director

and actor

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, ...

, whom she befriended while working on their 2009 film '' Humpday''. Eslyn went on to co-produce Shelton's films '' Your Sister's Sister'' (2011) and '' Touchy Feely'' (2013) and was the

line producer A line producer is a type of film or television producer who is the head of the production office management personnel during daily operations of a feature film, advertisement film, television film, or TV program. A line producer usually works on o ...

on Shelton's 2014 film '' Laggies''. She produced '' The One I Love'' (2014), directed by Charlie McDowell and financed by

, and ''

'' (2015), written and directed by Ross Partridge. In 2015, she was hired by Duplass Brothers Productions to oversee the production of the company's low-budget films; Eslyn refers to Mark and

as her own "big brothers". Eslyn won the Piaget Producers Award with a $25,000 grant at the 31st Independent Spirit Awards for her work on '' The One I Love'' and ''Lamb''. She was also twice nominated for a Genius Award by the Seattle newspaper '' The Stranger'' in 2015 and again in 2016. In 2017, Eslyn took over as President of

, overseeing all film and television content.

Personal life

Eslyn is in a relationship with Nathan M. Miller, a cinematographer with whom she worked on ''Lamb, Outside In'' and '' Humpday''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eslyn, Mel 1983 births Living people American women film producers Businesspeople from Madison, Wisconsin People from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Seattle Film producers from Wisconsin Film producers from Washington (state)