Melissa Johnson

Melissa Johnson is an Academy Award shortlisted filmmaker and writer living in Venice, California. She created 1/27 Pictures with Katelyn Howes and has directed numerous award-winning documentaries with a focus on identity and rites of passage stories. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Salon.com, and GOOD Magazine, including the inspiration for her autobiographical animated film, LOVE IN THE TIME OF MARCH MADNESS, which won at the Tribeca Film Festival and went gone on to be shortlisted for the 2016 Academy Awards. Her films for ESPN include QUEEN VEE, Executive Produced by Eva Longoria and BRITTNEY GRINER: LIFESIZE, which was the second most watched short film in network history when launched. She directed the feature documentary, TRANSFORMATION, for MTV which focuses on the inspirational stories of a group of transgender youth living in Los Angeles. NO LOOK PASS is Melissa's feature documentary for Showtime which won numerous awards at festivals worldwide and was selected for the American Film Showcase. Melissa also co-created an original web series called THE WORST SPEECHES OF ALL TIME that premiered on ComedyCentral.com and has garnered over a million views to date. She has also created short films for corporate clients including: BBC America, Green Throttle, eHarmony, Brit + Co and Patagonia. Melissa thinks the only way to discover what you truly believe is from a well-phrased question.