Hello! I’m Melanie Rish-Ho, a Canadian-born, Hong Kong-raised, screenwriter & director living in Brooklyn.

My work almost always features romance, family, or the comedically heightened collision of the two. I write sincerely and from the heart, examining the bonds we take most seriously and the funny ways they make us behave. I have a particular soft spot for the screwball rom com.

I’ve taught undergraduate screenwriting as an adjunct at Columbia University, where I earned my MFA. I’m also a regular advisor for Sundance Collab's Core Elements Screenwriting course.

My short films have won awards like the Red Dot Communication Design Award and Best Live Action Film at the Forbes under 30 Short Film Festival.

I was a finalist for the WGAE x Film Nation Screenwriting Fellowship and am a Black List Recommended writer. My feature screenplay The Healing News of June was awarded Faculty Selects at Columbia University’s 2025 Film Festival. My feature Slab Serif is in development.

If I’m not working on or watching a movie, I’m probably reading the newspaper at a coffee shop with my husband.

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