THE COUNTDOWN

It says something when the town you grew up in is famous for being one of Hollywood's go-to locations for post-apocalyptic landscapes. Newnan, Georgia was home to Zombieland, The Hunger Games, The Walking Dead, and Melanie Renfroe. Growing up in a conservative Southern town, Melanie was desperate to get out, and movies and television were her escape. From Sesame Street to My So-Called Life, from Goonies to Pulp Fiction, she was raised by TV, and movies were her first love. After taking as many drama and film classes as she could at the University of Georgia, she fell in love with the art of Casting. After graduation, she packed up her car for a cross country move to Los Angeles, to pursue the dream of becoming a Casting Director. It was the farthest she'd ever been from the place where she grew up, and she'd never felt more at home. She pounded the Hollywood pavement and made that Casting dream come true. After working as a Casting Director on over 150 episodes of television including Showtime's Shameless, TNT's Southland, and countless others, she found that she was hearing a call to do something else. While producing a short film, she found that she really enjoyed being able to have a creative voice throughout the filmmaking process, and discovered she loved being on set. Realizing she could also work with actors on the next level as a director on set, she decided it was time to once again make a big move. Melanie Renfroe has since shadowed directors/producers on sets such as Shameless and NBC's Superstore, and has directed several short films. She's recently wrapped principal photography on a microbudget pilot and hopes to one day get back to her hometown to shoot a post-apocalyptic movie or television show of her own.