GUEST BIO

Melissa Martinez-Areffi began her career in politics as a lobbyist before running away to Hollywood in 1994, where she started as an intern / reader at Beacon Communications, working on projects such as Air Force One and Bring It On. She and her husband, AJ Areffi then wrote for Stan Lee Media in 1999, when he had a crazy idea about streaming content online.
She transitioned to production as a Location Manager in 2008, working on several notable Emmy and Golden Globe winning series, American Horror Story – Roanoke (2016), HBO’s Ballers, Marvel’s: Agents of Shield and Agent
Carter. She also dedicated time to move cause related and independent projects forward, such as Tangerine (2015), The Infiltrators (2019), and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022).
As the mother of 3 autistic children, she became an advocate in helping them champion inclusive storytelling and authentic voices on screen.
In 2012, they authored Navigating Autism: The Essential How-To by Parents for Parents, sharing practical tools and hard-won strategies to help families secure meaningful services and support