Melissa Center is an actress, award-winning filmmaker known for visceral women’s stories, and “The Crowdfunding Queen,” who has helped creatives raise over $1.6M for their independent films, plays & albums.

As an actor, her most notable credits include roles on Chicago Fire (NBC), FBI (CBS), This is Us (NBC), Grey's Anatomy (ABC), and more. Favorite roles onstage include “Maggie” in A Chorus Line (Dir. Mitzi Hamilton), “Olivia” in Sex with Strangers (Hollywood Fringe), and “Jan” in 50 Words (The Lab Creative, LA). She also originated the stage adaptation of Lois Lowry’s The Giver, directed by the late Wynn Handman of The American Place Theater. 

She is the producer, co-writer and star of feature film, All I Want (Prime, AppleTv, Vudu, TubiTV, itunes) and the co-director, writer and star of award-winning viral short film R.V, a narrative that anticipated the overturn of Roe vs Wade. Her short film His Name is Niv, which she wrote and directed, is inspired by her own experience with sexual assault. 

Her solo show Marrying Jake Gyllenhaal, that she wrote, starred in and Produced, debuted during Pandemic lockdown via livestream at The Pico, LA followed by Edinburgh Fringe Digital to rave reviews, Caveat, NYC, & coverage in Ms. Magazine & Psychology Today. melissacenter.com