Melina Kolb, Founder and Executive Producer
Melina started creating videos at the age of 10 and rediscovered her passion for videomaking in college at the University of Chicago. During college, she won the IFP Market/Current TV national film contest, screening her film, Sue’s Room, at the IFP Market Film Festival in New York City and on Current TV’s national cable channel. While still in college, she continued producing various documentaries and video content in Chicago for non-profits and small businesses. She helped shoot Sundance Film Festival winner Ondi Timoner’s documentary on Lollapalooza and the 2004 Chicago Improv Festival.
In 2007 she won a spot in Split Pillow’s Chicago 360 v.2 Project for her film, The Original Slam, which was later broadcast on Chicago’s WTTW-11. In 2009, she received a master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she refined her multimedia storytelling skills. After grad school, she received a fellowship for News21, a prestigious national reporting project. Her movies about Marfa, Texas were nominated for the 2009 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Best of Web award. Her work has also screened on CBS 2 Chicago, NBC 5 Chicago’s website and Chicago Filmmakers.
When she doesn’t have her hands on a camera, she tutors at-risk youth on the South Side of Chicago.
Past clients include:
D.C. Crenshaw, NBC Chicago Street Team Member
Jim Miller, Charity Auctioneer
Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and Integrated Marketing Communications
Engaged couples in the Chicago area
“[...] The reason we hired Melina [Tellit’s founder] for the job was that we wanted the movie to be a documentary film, and not a typical “promotional video.” Melina’s previous work impressed us by the exploratory and many-sided approach she took in composition. Also, her skills with filming, editing – as well as the more intangible skill of knowing how to seek out interesting stories and scenes – made her a good candidate for the job, since she would be doing practically all the technical and creative work, myself and my colleagues being entirely ignorant of how movies are filmed and produced […]
Working with Melina on the movie confirmed my hopes. Melina was able to seek out plenty of interesting scenes and moments, and had a great way of working with the kids. She was able to understand the many subtleties of the Reasoning Mind project and took them into account in the filming process, asking students and teachers interesting questions. During the editing process, too, Melina did an excellent job. She collaborated with the team to plan out a 10-minute film from what was originally over 20 hours of footage, and was able to make a creative and interesting film that took into account the many different requirements for donors, schools, and so on. Throughout the whole process, Melina did a great job working with the rest of the team, and was well-prepared and on schedule; she was very flexible and understanding whenever sudden deadlines came up.
Above all, she brought to all her work a professionalism and outstanding common sense, making the whole difficult process of making the movie go much smoother. The final version of the film she made has pleased everyone, and has been used to give our current and prospective donors a great “glimpse into the classroom” and to train new teachers to use the program. Melina has an excellent (and all too rare!) combination of creativity and the ability to work responsibly as a member of a team. This, coupled with her sincere interest in the topics she takes up for her films, allows her to make films which are both polished and sincere.”
-Alex Khachatryan
President and CEO of Reasoning Mind
“Tellit Multimedia’s video production for the Sue Duncan Children’s Center has been and continues to be superb. As we develop our public image we want to show our heart to the world, not just our face. The last thing we want is a slick or superficial representation. Tellit Multimedia has taken the time to understand the difficulties of our work–tutoring and mentoring inner city children and helping their families–as well as our unique approach. Their products have conveyed the essence of what we do, the challenges we face, and the inner beauty of the people we help to tens of thousands of people. We are deeply grateful for the depth and quality of their work!”
-Owen Duncan
Assistant Director, Sue Duncan Children’s Center
“I’ve worked with Tellit Multimedia on several projects and they have always been professional and have delivered a quality product. Tellit also brought a level creativity to the table, which ultimately helped with production. I highly recommend utilizing Tellit’s services for your multimedia needs.”
-D.C. Crenshaw
Founder of Fete, NBC Chicago Street Team Member
