Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melody Myers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Melody, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I started getting an inkling of my purpose at a young age. I always had a love for reading, writing and creativity.
I remember always looking forward to reading my grandma’s daily print of the Chicago Sun-Times and discussing the latest headlines with her. My grandma, along with my parents, were the biggest influences when it came to me knowing the importance of being informed about what’s happening in my community and listening and learning from others’ stories.
In my opinion, a few moments played a pivotal role in realizing that my purpose is to write, produce and highlight the stories of everyday people.
The first moment came in 6th grade when I decided to start a newsletter, which eventually became a full blown magazine, for the youth in my church. I was a one-person team, creating and writing the monthly magazine—from finding the person for our monthly cover, writing all the content included in the magazine and printing the magazines, I was immersed in it every step of the way. Shoutout to my parents and little sister for staying up with me the night before we’d take them into church, acting as last minute editors and helping me organize the magazines for distribution at service the next day.
Another moment came in 7th grade. On the day of our local election, my mom, one of my biggest supporters when it comes to my writing and creativity, actually let me skip school so I could cover and report on what was happening. It felt so cool to interview residents in our town about why they were coming out to vote that day and the issues that mattered to them at time.
One other moment came when I was a sophomore in college. I had a mentor who I first met during my junior or senior year of high school who worked at NBC5. When I came home for fall break, she offered to let me come down to the station and take a tour. What I remember most about that tour is walking into the control room during the noon show. I remember there was yelling (as producers do at times) but also the intent and focus that those in the control room had when it came to making sure their show went well. Seeing that feeling of what I call ‘organized chaos’ was eye opening for me. When I learned producers were in charge of what stories got on air and that the role would allow me to give a voice to the diverse voices often left out of conversations, I was set on being a producer.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
During the day, I work as a news producer. In this role, I put together a segment from beginning to end for our show each day. From writing the anchor’s script to crafting the questions for guests to coming up with creative elements to enhance the story, I do some of everything.
However, when I’m not at work, I’m focusing my efforts towards bringing my first short film, ‘Dating Daze’, to fruition through my production company, MDM Productions, Inc. The film focuses on the potential blooming romance between two people during a night out in New York City. Not only has working on this film brought me so much joy, but it’s also helped me grow in my creativity, my leadership skills and ability to take risks. This project is special to me because I’ve played a role in every part of it—from creating the concept, to writing the script, to putting together the production team, to self-funding the entire film–I’ve done some of everything. I also find ‘Dating Daze’ special because it ties in and reflects the mission of my production company, which is to focus on bringing untold stories created by and for underrepresented groups to the forefront. I’m thrilled this film will focus on the universal themes of love and relationships, specifically among Black and Brown folks.
The film is currently in the final stages of post-production and I’m excited to be hosting a private family and friends screening for the film in early March. I’m also planning to hold a public screening later in the year once we’ve submitted the film to various film festivals. We hope to share the film publicly in late 2024 or early 2025.
I have plans for other future projects under the MDM Productions, Inc. brand and also look forward to collaborating with others who are looking to create and bring their own projects to fruition.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The first quality that has been most impactful in my journey is my hard work ethic. I don’t believe in half-doing things, especially things that I care about the most. With whatever I’m creating, whatever I’m putting out for people to enjoy, I will work at it tirelessly until it’s done to the best of my abilities.
The second quality that’s been impactful in my journey is my ability to reach out and connect myself, as well as others, with the right people. An inside joke among my friends is that I’m “The Connect” as I always seem to know someone who can be a resource to someone else. This is something I pride myself in being able to do because a lot of the opportunities that have come my way came because of someone connecting me with the right person. The least I can do is pay it forward to others!
Finally, a skill that’s been impactful in my journey is my discipline and time management skills. Since a young age, I was involved in a plethora of activities both in and outside of school and had to learn how to balance these activities with my classwork and maintain good grades. This skill has helped me all throughout adulthood, but especially within the last few months of bringing my short film together. This skill allowed me to keep my schedule from becoming too crazy as I successfully managed to balance everything that came with creating and producing this project while also continuing to excel at work, taking care of myself mentally and physically and spending time with friends and family.
My advice for those early in their journey is to take it one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. If you’re trying to get better at time management, start with something as simple as setting a timer to get a task done within a certain amount of time. If you’re trying to work on connecting with others, push yourself out of your comfort zone and maybe try to attend an event once a month in your city by yourself. If you’re trying to improve your work ethic, review whatever you’re doing and ask yourself if you and the person that means the most to you would be proud of what you’re putting out for folks to see. Finally, as you’re working on your journey, remember to not get caught up in someone else’s race but to focus on your own. As I’ve come to realize, what’s for you is for YOU at just the right time.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m absolutely open to partnering and collaborating with folks. I’d love for my production company to partner and collaborate with other production companies or studios to help people bring their scripts successfully to life. After the amazing experience I’ve had on my own short film these last few months, I also definitely plan to create, write and produce more of my own projects. For this, I’m open to anyone that’s creative, open to learning new things, a team player, has a strong work ethic, and is able to have fun. And if they have resources for gaining funding for creative projects, that’s an added bonus!
If they’d like to partner or collaborate, folks can shoot me an email at [email protected] or follow MDM Productions on Instagram (@_mdmproductions)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mdmproductionsinc.com/
- Instagram: _mdmproductions
- Twitter: @_MDMProductions
- Other: Email: [email protected]
