Biography

Melanie was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, in a very multicultural family. She has stayed close to her Panamanian and Austrian roots and is pleased to have called Canada, Vienna, and now Texas, USA home. In Canada, she graduated from the joint Theater and Drama Studies Program, receiving a Specialist Honours Degree from the University of Toronto and a professional Acting Diploma from Sheridan College. After being a professional working actor in Toronto for many years she began branching out into: dramaturgy, writing, directing and producing. In 2008 she co-founded FireSlide Productions Inc. where she worked with creative writers and visual artists co-running workshops and co-producing/co-directing annual showcases.

Her experience ranges from (children's books, plays, screenplays), as well as acting, directing and producing for theater, radio, film, and television. She has also run, lead and developed writing workshops to help artists develop novels, screenplays, children stories, short stories, radio plays, & television episodes.

Melanie has appeared on television in True Vampire on Discovery Channel and the series Team Leader (GopherX.net Productions) and several films such as Kismet (Boonbrain Communications), Silent Sam (Mad Samurai Films), and Pride: The Beginning of A Rise (Young Aria Productions).

Melanie's teaching background is quite a diverse one. She attended Ryerson University for Early Childhood Education in Toronto, Canada. She created and ran the acting program at Balletomane and Fleming School of the Performing Arts in Oakville, Canada. After working in Canada for several years she expanded her experience in Vienna, Austria where she developed new courses and classes as an Acting Professor at Prayner Konservatorium, was head teacher and Associate Director for all of Das Wiener Kindertheater programs, and teacher for the Vienna English Theater's acting program at Showtime in, while running writing workshops on how to write children stories, all in Vienna, Austria.

In Vienna, Austria, in 2012 she made her European directorial debut with Proof written by David Auburn (Awanti Elefani).

Melanie is also a career and business strategist for actors, writers, & performing artists. She loves to empower artists to reach further, accomplish more, and execute their dream projects. She is committed to empowering the artistic community all over the world.
- IMDb mini biography by: Melanie Kastner