THE TEAM
Melissa Marlette
Melissa is a director/writer, born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She attended Columbia College Chicago, where she directed LOVE IN CHAINS, a short film that screened in the Cannes Short Film Corner. After graduating, she worked as an on set PA on shows including DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, WIN WIN, MAN ON A LEDGE, WHITE COLLAR, 30 ROCK, BLUE BLOODS and PERSON OF INTEREST. In 2012, she made the move to Los Angeles with her writing partner, Jen, working as an assistant while also writing and directing her own projects on the side. In 2014, after raising $30k in a successful Kickstarter campaign, she directed the short film MIKE INDIA ALPHA. The film ran through the festival circuit, screening at the Big Bear International Film Festival and the On Location: Memphis Festival. While working for showrunner Julie Plec, Melissa and Jen were hired to co-write the penultimate episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, which was one of the highest rated episodes of the show’s final season. In 2017, Melissa directed THE HAMMOND BROTHERS, a short film starring Daryl Sabara, John Shartzer, Anya Engel-Adams and Julie Mond, which is slated to hit the 2018 festival circuit. Melissa and Jen were also accepted to the Warner Brothers TV Writers Workshop in 2018, and as of Spring of 2020 are staff writers on the CW show Nancy Drew.
Jen Vestuto
Jen was born in Lindenhurst, NY and studied screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts. While at SVA, she wrote a number of short and feature length scripts. After graduating in 2011, she started working on set as a production assistant on shows like LAW AND ORDER: SVU, THE ONION NEWS NETWORK, GREAT HOPE SPRINGS, and PERSON OF INTEREST. After wrapping a job on the Steven Soderbergh film SIDE EFFECTS, Jen moved out to LA with Melissa. She worked as an assistant for a years while they built their body of work. In 2013, they co-wrote the short film MIKE INDIA ALPHA which Melissa also directed. They raised $30k on Kickstarter, hitting their goal with days to spare. After working as an EP Assistant on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, Jen and Melissa got their first writing credit on the penultimate episode of the 8th and final season. Jen then got a job working for showrunner Brett Matthews on MTV's reboot of SCREAM. In 2017, Jen wrote the short script THE HAMMOND BROTHERS, which was shot in August of that year, directed by Melissa. The film stars Daryl Sabara, John Shartzer, Anya Engel-Adams and Julie Mond and is slated to hit the 2018 festival circuit. Melissa and Jen were also accepted to the Warner Brothers TV Writers Workshop in 2018, and as of Spring of 2020 are staff writers on the CW show Nancy Drew.
