Mel Jones is a multi-talented producer and director. A Howard University graduate, she earned her MFA at the American Film Institute in Producing. Jones worked in development at Participant Media under producer Jonathan King and marketing guru Ricky Strauss. A Project Involve Fellow, Jones assisted veteran producer and LA Film Festival director, Stephanie Allain – a gig which turned into a five-year stint as producer of Diversity Speaks, one of the festival’s signature programs. She served as Associate Producer on Justin Simien’s Sundance hit, Dear White People, as a Producer on Wade and Jesse Allain-Marcus’ French Dirty, Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands and Clark Johnson’s Juanita a Netflix Original. She made her directorial debut with Leimert Park, an indie episodic that premiered at Sundance 2018. She is President of Production for Homegrown Pictures.