Melody Gilbert
Encyclopedia
Melody Gilbert is an award-winning independent
documentary film
maker, educator and journalist
from St. Paul, Minnesota now stationed in Minneapolis
. She is co-founder of Darn Good Documentaries, and operates her own independent film production company, Frozen Feet Films.
, Wisconsin
, California
, Florida
and Minnesota
, including Twin Cities Public Television
(TPT), KSTP-TV
and WCCO-TV
. She taught broadcast journalism and documentary production at the University of Minnesota
, and is currently a visiting professor in Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton College
. She is an advisory board member of IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts, was a founding member of Minnesota Women in Film and Television, and is founder and President of Minnesota DocuClub.
), and for Battered Lives (1996) (WCCO
).
She received the American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT
) national award for best series for Defying Tradition: Hmong Teen Brides.
Her short documentary Jamie Butcher Dies at Home was shown on ABC
's Prime Time Live. She has also won a national award from Investigative Reporters and Editors
(IRE) for Toxic testing, a short documentary about how the U.S. government sprayed citizens of Minneapolis with toxic chemicals in the 1950s. The documentary prompted an investigation led by the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone
.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
maker, educator and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
from St. Paul, Minnesota now stationed in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. She is co-founder of Darn Good Documentaries, and operates her own independent film production company, Frozen Feet Films.
Background
Gilbert has worked at television stations in Washington, D.C, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, including Twin Cities Public Television
Twin Cities Public Television
Twin Cities Public Television is a non-profit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two Public Broadcasting Service member Public television stations, KTCA-TV and KTCI-TV...
(TPT), KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV, channel 5, is the ABC affiliate for the Twin Cities. Its transmitter is located at the Shoreview Telefarm. It is the flagship station of Hubbard Broadcasting, which also owns several other broadcasting properties across the United States....
and WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV, is the CBS owned and operated television station that serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. Its transmitter is at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.- History :...
. She taught broadcast journalism and documentary production at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, and is currently a visiting professor in Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
. She is an advisory board member of IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts, was a founding member of Minnesota Women in Film and Television, and is founder and President of Minnesota DocuClub.
Partial filmography
- Fritz: The Walter Mondale StoryFritz: The Walter Mondale StoryFritz: The Walter Mondale Story is a documentary film detailing the life of former American Vice President Walter "Fritz" Mondale. It is narrated by his daughter, Eleanor Mondale.-Plot Synopsis:...
(2008) - Urban ExplorersUrban Explorers (film)Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness is a documentary film about urban explorers.-Soundtrack:*Mark Mallman* The Hopefuls* Kid Dakota* Big Quarters* The Owls* Big Fuckin Skull* P.O.S.* John Munson* Terry Eason...
(2007) - A Life Without PainA Life Without PainA Life Without Pain is a documentary film by Melody Gilbert about children who can't feel pain.-Plot synopsis:The film explores the daily lives of three children with Congenital insensitivity to pain, a rare genetic disorder shared by just a hundred people in the world...
(2005) - WholeWhole (film)Whole is a documentary about people with body integrity identity disorder. It first was broadcast on the Sundance Channel in 2004....
(2003) - Married at the Mall (2002)
Awards and recognition
Gilbert received regional Emmys as producer on Our Bodies/Ourselves (2000) (TPTTPT
TPT may refer to:* TPT , Time Partition Testing* TransPerfect Translations, a translation service provider* TPT , Thiagarajar Polytechnic College* Teradata Parallel Transporter...
), and for Battered Lives (1996) (WCCO
WCCO
WCCO, which stands for "Washburn Crosby Company", the forerunner to General Mills, may refer to:*WCCO , a radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
).
She received the American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT
AWRT
The Alliance for Women in Media, originally the American Women in Radio and Television , is a national non-profit organization for female professionals in radio, television, and other electronic media....
) national award for best series for Defying Tradition: Hmong Teen Brides.
Her short documentary Jamie Butcher Dies at Home was shown on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Prime Time Live. She has also won a national award from Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the quality of investigative reporting. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of...
(IRE) for Toxic testing, a short documentary about how the U.S. government sprayed citizens of Minneapolis with toxic chemicals in the 1950s. The documentary prompted an investigation led by the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone
Paul Wellstone
Paul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College...
.
Additional sources
- eFilmCritic interview, "SXSW '05 Interview: 'A Life Without Pain' Director Melody Gilbert"
- Rift Magazine, "Melody Gilbert - Documentary Filmmaker"
- Minnesota Public RadioMinnesota Public RadioMinnesota Public Radio , is the flagship National Public Radio member network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, Classical Music and The Current, MPR operates a 42-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest serving over 8 million people...
, "Melody Gilbert's trip 'Into the Darkness'"
External links
- Melody Gilbert at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Frozen Feet Films official website
- Whole official website
- Darn Good Documentaries official website