Melina Matsoukas trivia: 31 amazing facts about the famous music video director

Melina Matsoukas is an American musci video director. She has collaborated with famous singers such as Rihanna, Beyonce and many more.

She recently made her feature directorial debut with the film Queen & Slim. So let’s find out some more about her life and career!

1. Melina Matsoukas was born on January 14, 1981
2. She is an American music video, film, commercial and television director
3. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner
4. Four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner
5. For her “We Found Love” and “Formation” music videos
6. She was honored with the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal by the American Film Institute in 2019
7. Matsoukas grew up in Co-op City a housing development in the Bronx
8. Her father worked as a carpenter
9. Her mother taught math in a local high school
10. When Matsoukas was eight, the family moved to Hackensack, New Jersey
11. Her father is of half-Greek and half-Jewish descent
12. Her mother is of African-Cuban and Jamaican descent
13. Both her name and surname are Greek: Μελίνα Ματσούκα
14. She earned her degree at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts
15. She completed her graduate work at the AFI Conservatory with an MFA in cinematography
16. Her graduate thesis was on music videos
17. Matsoukas started out at Black Dog Film, then the now-defunct Gorilla Flix film production company
18. She is currently a director at Prettybird
19. Which she has been signed to since 2011
20. Her work is described as “chock full of bright colors or crisp black and white images, smooth spotlights, and tasteful retro video models”
21. Matsoukas says that expensive equipment is not necessary for a quality video and one should never think that way
22. “A good video has the right visuals, a well conceptualised story and should be exciting and elicit reaction”
23. In an interview for Venus Zine’s Fall 2010 issue, she says about being part of the music video world, “I love it. The quick turnaround, the creativity”
24. In 2016 and 2017, Matsoukas directed several episodes of the critically and publicly acclaimed television series Master of None and Insecure
25. Matsoukas made her directorial debut in film with Queen & Slim
26. Starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya
27. Written by Lena Waithe
28. It is scheduled to be released on November 27, 2019, by Universal Pictures
29. She has directed many music videos of superstar Beyonce
30. These include Upgrade U, Why Don’t You Love Me, Pretty Hurts, Formation
31. She has also worked with superstars as Leona Lewis, Whitney Huston, Rihanna, Katy Perry and many more