A native of New York City, Nicholas Melillo has been shooting stills and film since 1972. He studied art and photography at Fashion Institute of Technology & Syracuse University, in addition to getting a BA in Journalism. He began working in advertising in 1974 as a still photographer with such notable accounts as Cover Girl, Polo, Smirnoff, and General Foods. Establishing an immediate rapport with talent enabled Nicholas to work with Christy Brinkley, Rene Russo, Mickey Mantle, Larry Bird, Ivan Lendl, Jake LaMotta, and a host of celebrities. In 1988 he was one of a short list of photographers to have one of his photos selected for the cover of Zoom Magazine. His interest in directing was sparked by Edward Bianchi while developing his skills in lighting from Gordon Willis.
Moving to Hong Kong in 1989 he began working for the legendary Academy One (Nancy Kwan Studios) as a director, and in 1991 won his first Cannes award for a comedy spot for Hewlett Packard. During his almost 7 year stay in Asia he shot close to 250 commercials in Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Dubai, Egypt, Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Taiwan and Japan, also learning to speak Cantonese and Thai. During that time Nick worked as director/cameraman (second unit ) on " Men of War " starring Dolph Lundgren and as the Bangkok action unit director/cameraman on "The Quest" starring Jean Claude Van Damme. With over 1,000 shooting days under his belt, directing & lensing over 300 commercials and features Nicholas Melillo has the experience to handle just about any spot that comes his way!
The following is a partial list of some of the spots directed by Nicholas:
Pierre Cardin * Energo Milk * TrendMaster * Toys * 7 UP * Atlus/Playstation Sony * Pepsi * Hewlett Packard * Toyota * Blue Cross * Chase Bank * Deutsch Bank * Mattel * Harley Davidson Jeans * Motorola * Right Guard * USA Poultry * Cover Girl * Palmolive * Marlboro Cigarettes * Pepsodent * Cheerios * Clarol Shampoo * Smirnoff Brands * Miller Beer * Talk To Me ABC/TV (promos) * Winston Cigarettes *
Awards and Merits
- 1988 Gold "Triangle" self Promotion piece New York Art directors club
- 1989 Gold "Power Breakfast" Saatchi , New York General Foods
- 1991 Cannes Award of Merit Hewlett Packard " Mr. Wong" Hong Kong
- 1993 Gold DDB /Needham Worldwide "Mr. Wilat" DDB/Needham Bangkok
- 1996 Ciptra Pariwara Best of Indonesia "Bukan Basa Basi" Ogilivy & Mather
