MELANIE JEFFCOAT received her MFA in Acting from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington in Seattle and has worked in theatres around the country including the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory Theatre and the Seattle Repertory Theatre. While in NY, she worked on the TV show “All My Children” and did stand-up comedy at several clubs. In LA, she cofounded the award-winning Circle X Theatre Co. which recently celebrated its 20th successful year of production. With Circle X Theatre Co., Melanie served as Associate Artistic Director, Playwright Development Director, Producer, and Director and created several roles in world premiere plays. She is the winner of two Los Angeles Ovation Awards for both acting and producing as well as numerous LA-based Dramalogue Awards.

Melanie taught Acting at the University of Montevallo and Film Production at Samford. She is the writer/director of the film Open Secret, which won the Audience Choice Award at the 2010 Politics on Film Festival in Washington, D.C. The film was requested by the U.S. Department of Justice for their Voting Rights Section Library, is part of an interactive exhibit at the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Center and was recently entered into evidence in the landmark Lynch v. Alabama Federal Civil Rights case. She produced Man in the Glass: The Dale Brown Story, about the LSU men's basketball coach. The film stars Matthew McConaughey and Shaquille O'Neal. Melanie owns Circle X Films in Birmingham and has directed and/or produced numerous films including Gip, which premiered at Sidewalk Film Festival in 2016 and won Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature and Best Sounds Feature at Indie Memphis. Gip is currently part of Season 3 of REEL South on PBS.