Kanbar Institute of Film & Television
 | Mel Damski |
Biography
Mel Damski has directed 27 movies and many documentaries. He has twice been nominated for Emmy awards and once for an Oscar for his documentary short Still Kicking: the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.His three feature comedies are Yellowbeard, Mischief and Happy Together.
He directed the acclaimed docudramas Everybody’s Baby: the Rescue of Jessica McClure, The Badge of the Assassin starring James Woods, and A Winner Never Quits, with Keith Carradine playing one-armed St. Louis Brown’s outfielder Pete Gray.
Damski has directed over hundred and fifty episodes of television, from MASH to Ally McBeal, Without a Trace and Boston Legal.
Mel is currently the producer-director of the USA series Psych.
A former reporter for Newsday, Damski attended Colgate University on a football scholarship. He was an all-Nassau County (Long Island, New York) selection in football and baseball.
Mel taught journalism and studied film in the Master’s program at the University of Denver. He was a directing fellow at the American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film Studies, where he studied under Frank Daniel and Jan Kadar.
Damski has taught cinema at the American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film Studies, University of Southern California, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He has lectured at campuses around the country and also teaches private acting classes.
He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Writer’s Guild of America. As a longtime member of the Director’s Guild of America, Mel has been chairman of the creative rights committee and currently sits on the Guild’s health and pension board. Mel has served on the negotiating committee of the DGA for over 20 years.
Mel is a principal in the Red Car Wine Company and president of the Lyrica Wine Company. He is married with five children.
