Born on May 30th 1986, Melissa started to have a huge interest in movies and televion while making an appearrance on the popular Dutch Kids TVshow "Telekids" at age 11. "I remember all of it because I always dreamed on being on the show. I was a big fan and it was crazy seeing Carlo and Irene, the stage and all the people behind the scenes. It was interesting and from then on I wanted to become a director."

Melissa started writing and directing on the age of 15 together with her friend Dorothea Goudzwaard. Their short film 'Deadly Normal' screened at the 'Filmfestival of Amateur Creations' of 2002 and on 'Open Stage' at her school. "I remember we were both nervous, but after the movie screened people came to us and said wow cool movie so we thought we did alright."

During her secundary schooltime she worked on several projects like the documentary 'London BABY!', musicvideo 'Crawling' and the short feature film 'Out of love'. "I really liked making 'Out of love' even if it's one of the most worst movies I ever worked on, even the director Carolina said it stinks haha. But seriously, the movie had a huge cast and crew, it was like filmcamp and it was also shot on location in Alphen aan de Rijn. We all had lots of fun and I liked the spirit on the set."

After graduating from highschool Melissa went to study Media & Entertainment Management at CHN University and directed a TV pilot 'Movin''. "I learned a lot about myself on CHN. I wasn't at my place but I definitely see the pilot as a lifetime experience. We were working on it with 25 people in a real studio with real cameras, real lights. It was just wicked!"

She also directed a musicvideo 'Hero' with professional actor Julien Demeijer who she met on the set of 'Zoop' a year before. "Julien is a great actor, he is a rising talented actor. When I was coming up with the story I thought that Julien would be perfect for the role so I emailed him. 'Hero' is also very special to me because it is very close to me, I can relate to the character and the song is just beautifull."

From the beginning of 2002 til the end of 2006 Melissa was a member of film and videoclub Noptica and was also involved with various projects 'Kassa' and 'Of is?'. "I got the chance to write and direct 'Of is?' so I took it but it was kinda hard for me to communicate with the cast and crew. But I'm proud of the endresult." 'Of is?' has won awards for best local movie, best regional movie, best groupmovie and has won a third prize at the national NOVA Manifestatie (Dutch Organistation of Audiovisual Amateurs).

Internationally, Melissa supports financially actor Joseph Mazzello making his debutmovie 'Matters of Life and Death'. "I read that he needed help to get his movie done, so I asked Joe if he could send me the screenplay and he did. The screenplay was well written and I believe it is going to be a succesfull short movie."

At the moment Melissa is working as a production assistant to get more experience on filmsets. "I enjoy being a production assistant, it's nice and interesting to see how other (professional) directors work or how they communicate with actors and the crew. I also believe it's good to start from the bottom and work your way up, that way you'll see how important everyone is and how much you appreciate what everyone is doing on a set."

Aside of directing, Melissa aspires to acting. "Acting is still a thing I would love to try and see how it is. You can get to play different people and see things in different perpectives. It sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if I'm good at it haha."

Currently Melissa attends college studying photography and cinematography.