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

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

industry and has collaborated with

Lynn Shelton Lynn Shelton (August 27, 1965 – May 15, 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 ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass Jr. (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 br ...

on numerous films. She is best known for producing '' The One I Love'' (2014) and '' Lamb'' (2015), for which she won an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

. 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 Puf ...

Early life

Eslyn was born in 1983 in

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 38,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most-populous village in Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...

. 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 comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss from a story by David Kirschner, Freudberg and Geiss. The film stars the voices of Phi ...

''. She worked on film sets in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

film industry before moving to

in 2008. She entered the Seattle

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, for which they wrote and directed ''The ...

, 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. They are responsible for human re ...

on Shelton's 2014 film ''

Laggies ''Laggies'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Say When'') is a 2014 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lynn Shelton and written by Andrea Seigel. It stars Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell, Kaitlyn Dever, Jeff ...

''. She produced '' The One I Love'' (2014), directed by Charlie McDowell and financed by

, and '' Lamb'' (2015), written and directed by

Ross Partridge Ross Partridge (born February 26, 1968) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer. His most notable work as a director is the 2015 adaptation of the book '' Lamb'', which Partridge wrote, starred in and directed. As an actor, h ...

. 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. Eslyn's directorial debut film ''Biosphere'', starring Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown, was released in 2022.

Personal life

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

Accolades

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)