INSTRUCTOR: Ashley Melzer

Ashley Melzer is a producer, writer, and filmmaker based in Durham, NC. Born in North Florida, she received her Bachelors in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California and then a Masters in Folklore from UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work has been featured in Indy Week, Paste Magazine, eMusic, and the Southern Foodways Alliance. She's worked with Hopscotch, Moogfest, Southern Cultures Journal, The Southern Oral History Program and more. She currently serves as Director of the Arts & Humanities Grant Studio at UNC Chapel Hill.

Ashley is Producer of You Gave Me a Song, a new, feature length documentary about the life and music of legendary old-time and bluegrass musician Alice Gerrard, which premiered at the Full Frame Film Festival (2019) and on PBS Reel South in May 2020. Ashley is also director and producer of Zara, a one person show about an anxious, asthmatic Muslim kid’s search for meaning and the chance encounters that impacted him.

Ashley is a founding partner and stakeholder of Mettlesome.