Melody Gilbert Biography

Melody Gilbert
Frozen Feet Films
Director/Producer
651.336.5111 / Email

Melody Gilbert is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker, journalist and educator from St. Paul, Minnesota who has worked in film and television for more than 20 years. Melody also directs and operates her own independent film production company, Frozen Feet Films (www.frozenfeetfilms.com).

Ms. Gilbert has directed, produced, filmed and edited four independent feature-length documentaries: URBAN EXPLORERS:INTO THE DARKNESS, A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN (featured on Oprah, CNN and Good Morning America), WHOLE (featured on the BBC and in the New York Times) and MARRIED AT THE MALL. All of her films have screened at major film festivals, in theaters and been broadcast internationally, including the Sundance Channel.

Ms. Gilbert is also an educator who taught broadcast journalism and documentary production at the University of Minnesota and has been a guest lecturer overseas in Romania and Khyrgzstan. She is currently a visiting professor in Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton College.

Ms. Gilbert started her career working at television stations in Washington, D.C, New York, Wisconsin, California, Florida and Minnesota, including Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), KSTP-TV and WCCO-TV. Awards include regional Emmys for her work as producer on the documentaries OUR BODIES/OURSELVES? (2000/TPT) and for BATTERED LIVES (1996/WCCO), as well as the Association of Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) national award for best series for DEFYING TRADITION: HMONG TEEN BRIDES. Ms. Gilbert also produced and directed the short documentary, JAMIE BUTCHER DIES AT HOME, which was shown on ABC’s Prime Time Live.

Ms. Gilbert also won a national award from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) for her short documentary TOXIC TESTING about how the U.S. government sprayed innocent citizens of Minneapolis with toxic chemicals in the 1950’s. That piece prompted a national investigation led by the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone.

Ms. Gilbert has also organized and supports a number of film and educational organizations. She is a board member of IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts and Minnesota Women in Film and Television, which she helped found along with the Minnesota DocuClub.