Melissa Finell (writer/director) is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Currently an MFA candidate in film directing at UCLA, Finell has received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Directing Award, the MPAA Award, and her upcoming thesis film has just been selected for an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation production grant. Mel’s first short film “No Direction” premiered at Frameline 2011 and continued on to screen at numerous festivals around the globe. Originally from New York, Melissa received her B.A. in Women’s Studies at Smith College and studied sketch comedy writing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Before beginning film school at UCLA, Mel worked on numerous productions such as Sex and the City 2, Gossip Girl, HBO’s How to Make it in America, and Ringer. Melissa was an associate producer of Madeleine Olnek’s award-winning feature Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, which premiered at Sundance 2011. Mel’s first feature film, entitled Sensitivity Training will begin production in August 2014.