Melvin J. Montalban

Melvin J. Montalban is a director represented by Photoplay, known for technical craft, visual effects and emotional storytelling.

His work spans commercials, music videos, short films , television drama and the visual art space. He creates striking films with premium visuals and belongs to that rare breed of technical director who can make complicated rigs, camera moves and visual effects not only look very cool but work as emotional storytelling tools. Throw in a knack for choreography, an eye for art direction and a desire to tell stories in ways they haven’t been told before and you have a real unicorn on your hands.

Melvin’s visual art practice includes Temple (2022) and Nest (2024), both large-scale, multi-channel video installations created in collaboration with Leila Jeffreys. His short film Letters, a sobering tale of bushfire survival, was a call to arms in support of MP Zali Steggall’s Climate Change Bill.