Biography

ROXANNE MESSINA CAPTOR is an Emmy nominated writer, director and producer. She is a directing protege of friend and mentor Francis Ford Coppola. Messina Captor was awarded the CHEVALIER DE L'ORDRE DES ARTS ET DES LETTRES by the REPUBLIC OF FRANCE in 2005, and the Humanitas and Ohio State Award for the CBS movie Home Sweet Homeless (1988). She is Chairperson of the CA ARTS COUNCIL appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Messina Captor's first career was as a professional ballerina and was considered a triple threat on Broadway. She was also assistant choreographer to Gene Kelly on One from the Heart (1981), and on the film The Cotton Club (1984). She served as a production assistant on The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983).

Messina Captor has written, directed and produced a multitude of network and cable MOWS and series. She executive produced and wrote the story for the Hallmark Channel movie Dream Moms (2023), and executive produced the Christmas movie, "Dickens of a Christmas". Some of her other produced projects include: Her Married Lover (1999) for Lifetime TV, Dead on Sight (1994) for HBO, The Trujillos for ABC, and for CBS the Emmy nominated Home Sweet Homeless (1988), Fatal Vows (1996), and In Dreams (1998).

Her other award-winning work includes: The Digital series The Salon (2020) with Harry Shearer, Sam Rubin, Kate Linder, and Mason Grammer which won Best Ensemble at the Indie Series Awards, and Best Digital Series for the iHollywood Film Festival. Homecoming: Veterans, Wives, Mothers (2018) won the Five Star Award Best of Festival for the iHollywood Film Festival, and awards for the San Pedro International Film Festival. "Homecoming" can be seen on Amazon Prime, and held special screenings for the United Nations, NY Bar Association Members and Common Defense, and was supported by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Keeping with the theme of military women, her film Thank You for Your Service (2017) was included in the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, won Best Narrative Feature at the Hall of Fame, Women's History Month Festival. All can be seen on Shorts TV and EMEA TV.

In 2023/24, Messina Captor was commissioned by BroadStage to produce and direct the documentary on Jazz Grammy winner Stanley Clarke. The film documents Clarke's work as well as his three-year residency at BroadStage working with music students from Santa Monica College. In 2024, she produced a documentary on Emmy winning actress Barbara Bain for the Mitzi Blahd grant program.

She is also an accomplished theater director and choreographer, having worked on the Pre-Broadway "Summer Stock", "The Vow," by Stephanie Liss, Vincent Canby's After All (1998) with Hal Linden, and "Trotsky's Garden" with Dina Merrill, Kurtwood Smith and Ayre Gross.

Another successful project for Messina Captor was the Oscar qualified, Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner, Comedy Central, and Tubi short film A Couple of White Chicks at the Hairdresser (2007) with Shelley Long and Harry Shearer.

Messina Captor was one of Turner Network Television's founding original program executives. She is also the former executive director of the San Fransisco International Film Festival and Society where she increased box office and attendance by 40%.

Messina Captor was guest Speaker for Havana, Cuba's International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. She served on the Policy-Making Committee for higher education and the Policy Committee for runaway production for Governor Gavin Newsom. She is on the policy committee for the state Faculty Association for California Community Colleges.

As a professor at New York Film Academy and Santa Monica College, she heads documentary production. Formerly taught at Emerson College LA, UCLA and Cal-Arts. Messina Captor is a member of the Academy of Television of Arts and Sciences, Who's Who in America, NAPTE, and Greenlight Women.
- IMDb mini biography by: Publicist