Melissa's passion for casting and discovering new talent is undeniable. No matter the size of the budget or timetable challenges, Melissa always assembles a strong roster of candidates for each role, large or small. She maintains solid professional relationships with her connections at elite talent agencies. Louise Spinner at United Talent Agency describes Melissa as "dependable, dedicated and delightful." Melissa has cast several independent films, including Rage, starring Oscar winner Nicolas Cage and Danny Glover; USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, starring Nic Cage, Tom Sizemore, James Remar, Matt Lanter and Thomas Jane; and The Great Alaskan Race, starring Treat Williams, Bruce Davison, Henry Thomas, Brad Leland and more. Melissa not only enjoys casting projects with veteran actors like Malcolm McDowell and Lou Diamond Phillips, she relishes in finding diverse new talent. She has "an exceptionally keen eye for matching talent with the needs of the script," says UTA's Brian Nossokoff. Melissa believes every film should have a "distinct bouquet of characters," a philosophy she shared with director Mario Van Peebles on USSI: Men of Courage. She highly values her relationships with the production leaders and crew as well as with the talent and their representatives. Her career in entertainment began as a talent scout for actors, singers and models. She parlayed that experience into working as a casting assistant for the incomparable Stan Lee and documentary king Morgan Spurlock on Comic-Con IV: A Fan's Hope. In addition to her work as a casting director for feature films, Melissa also has provided casting services for 8i, an international virtual reality software development company. Melissa grew up in Hawaii and San Diego and now lives in Marina Del Rey, California. She has two handsome sons, Kona and Niko.
