Mel Eslyn | |
|---|---|
 Eslyn in 2015 | |
| Occupation(s) | Film producer, director, writer |
Mel Eslyn (born August 19, 1983) is an American film producer, director and writer. She works primarily in the Seattle independent film industry and has collaborated with Lynn Shelton and Mark and Jay Duplass 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. She acts as the President of Duplass Brothers Productions. [1]
Eslyn was born in 1983 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. She attended Pewaukee High School and graduated in 2001. [2] 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 . [3] She worked on film sets in Milwaukee as a teenager, beginning at the age of 14, [3] and was a production assistant on the 2002 film No Sleep 'til Madison . [2]
Eslyn worked in the Madison, Wisconsin film industry before moving to Seattle in 2008. [2] [4] She entered the Seattle independent film industry through Seattle-based director Lynn Shelton and actor Mark Duplass, 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 on Shelton's 2014 film Laggies . She produced The One I Love (2014), directed by Charlie McDowell and financed by Duplass Brothers Productions, and Lamb (2015), written and directed by Ross Partridge. [2] In 2015, she was hired by Duplass Brothers Productions to oversee the production of the company's low-budget films; [4] Eslyn refers to Mark and Jay Duplass as her own "big brothers". [2]
Eslyn won the Piaget Producers Award with a $25,000 grant at the 31st Independent Spirit Awards [5] for her work on The One I Love and Lamb. [3] She was also twice nominated for a Genius Award by the Seattle newspaper The Stranger in 2015 and again in 2016. [4] [6]
In 2017, Eslyn took over as President of Duplass Brothers Productions, overseeing all film and television content. [1]
Eslyn's directorial debut film Biosphere, starring Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown, was released in 2022.
Eslyn is in a relationship with Nathan M. Miller, a cinematographer with whom she worked on Lamb, Outside In and Humpday . [2]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Independent Spirit Awards | Piaget Producer's Award | Lamb | Won | [7] |
| 2022 | Peabody Awards | Entertainment | Somebody Somewhere | Nominated | [8] |
The Stranger is an alternative biweekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, U.S. It has a progressive orientation and as founded in 1991. The paper's principal competitor is the Seattle Weekly.
Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent film characterized by naturalistic acting and dialogue, low budgets, an emphasis on dialogue over plot, and a focus on the personal relationships of young adults. Filmmakers associated with the genre include Andrew Bujalski, Lynn Shelton, the Duplass brothers Mark and Jay, Greta Gerwig, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Ry Russo-Young. In many cases, though, these directors reject the term. The genre is a mostly American phenomenon. The related term mumblegore has been used for films mixing the mumblecore and horror genres.
Lawrence Jay Duplass Jr. 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 brother, Mark Duplass.
Humpday is a 2009 American mumblecore comedy-drama film directed, produced, and written by Lynn Shelton and starring Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, and Alycia Delmore. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. International distribution rights were purchased by Magnolia Pictures for a mid-six figure sum. The film opened in New York City in a limited release on July 10, 2009. The story line follows two male heterosexual best friends, Ben and Andrew. The plot line centers around a "mutual dare" that is introduced at a party, which involves the two main characters engaging in a pornographic film together. The film was shot on-location in Washington state around Seattle from September 2008 to January 2009, and much of the dialogue for the film was improvised.
Lynn Shelton 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.
Seattle True Independent Film Festival was started in 2005 by a group of filmmakers whose feature film Swamper was rejected by the Seattle International Film Festival. STIFF was modeled after the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City UT as a way to champion local and true independent films that they felt were being left out of the local film program. The Stranger film critic, Andrew Wright described it as “like a belch in church ” All films that screen at STIFF receive a one-of a kind award called a “STIFFY”. Past STIFFIES run the gamut from “Best Buddy Movie”, to “Hottest Zombie”. On average, STIFF receives over 600 submissions per year and screens over 125 films as part of the nine-day event.
Mark David Duplass 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 Puffy Chair (2005), Baghead (2008), Cyrus (2010), Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), and The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2012).
Alycia Delmore is an American actress in films and theater.
Kathryn Aselton is an American actress, film director and producer. She directed and co-starred in The Freebie, which was shown in the non-competition "Next" category at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. She also starred in the FX sitcom The League for its seven-season run from 2009 to 2015, and in the first two seasons of FX's Marvel Comics X-Men drama Legion.
Nights and Weekends is a 2008 American mumblecore film written, directed, co-produced by and starring Joe Swanberg and Greta Gerwig. The film follows a long-distance relationship and its aftermath.
Your Sister's Sister is a 2011 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Lynn Shelton and starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mark Duplass. The film premiered on September 11, 2011, at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was released in the United States on June 15, 2012.
Megan Griffiths is a film and television director who resides in Seattle, Washington, U.S., and is a board member of Northwest Film Forum.
Nathaniel Sanders is an American film editor. He is best known for his collaborations with Destin Daniel Cretton and Barry Jenkins. He won Independent Spirit Awards for both Short Term 12 (2013) and Moonlight (2016), as well as being nominated for an Academy Award for the latter.
6 Years is a 2015 American romantic drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell and starring Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Peter Vack, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson. Filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass served as executive producers under their Duplass Brothers Productions banner. The film depicts two weeks in the relationship of college students Melanie Clark and Dan Mercer, as their 6-year romance turns violent.
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 Puffy Chair (2005), Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), The One I Love (2014) and The Skeleton Twins (2014), and the HBO comedy-drama television series Togetherness (2015–2016) and Room 104 (2017-2020).
Lamb is an American drama film, written and directed by Ross Partridge. The film was adapted from the novel of the same name by Bonnie Nadzam. The film stars Ross Partridge, Oona Laurence, Jess Weixler, and Tom Bower.
Stephanie Langhoff is an American film and television producer.
The 31st Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2015, were presented by Film Independent on February 27, 2016. The nominations were announced on November 24, 2015. The ceremony was hosted by Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani, and broadcast live on IFC.
Paddleton is a 2019 American comedy-drama film, directed by Alex Lehmann, from a script by Lehmann and Mark Duplass. The film stars Duplass and Ray Romano.
Penelope is a 2024 coming-of-age television series from Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn, and starring Megan Stott and Austin Abrams. It premiered on Netflix in the United States on September 24, 2024.