Age 6: first show as a dancing flower in the secret garden
(and when I say dancing, I actually mean I gently swayed from side to side while smiling)
It was love.
it's hard figuring out how to display yourself, I hope this works
I am a recent graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design where I studied film and television production; during my time at SCAD, I worked on a total of 56 productions over the course of 3 years, notable companies being Sony Pictures Entertainment, Mobile First Entertainment, Production on Fifth, Liberty Films, SCAD, and various student led and funded productions.
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Prior to my time at SCAD, I studied musical theatre at Kent State University and worked as a character performer for the Walt Disney Company. While studying theatre, my art form of origin (I caught the bug at age 6), I worked in a variety of roles, such as a scenic painter, carpenter, makeup artist, stage manager, rigger, stagehand, lighting board operator, spot light operator, property designer, scenic designer, and director for various staged productions; companies included Kent State University, The Beck Center for the Arts, Weathervane Playhouse, Actors Summit, and North Canton Playhouse.
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I feel very blessed to have been able to work in the entertainment industry and am excited to continue contributing to an industry I so dearly love.
Hey there! My name's Nina Di Salvo, not Lina, Tina, Gina, Dina, or Mina - yes, it's confusing, it rhymes with everything, but in actuality my name begins with the letter N as in Nancy. Or Nina.
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I'm a film director and production designer, originally from a small town outside of Akron, Ohio (home to both Jim Jarmusch and Lebron James). I started off my career as a performing artist, working for various theaters in northeast Ohio before transitioning to Orlando, Florida to work as a character performer for the Walt Disney Company.
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I later attended the Savannah College of Art and design and earned my BFA in film in television production after having worked on over 56 films, which included short narratives, documentaries, music videos, art installations, web series, television series, and a feature film. Before graduating, I had the opportunity to work on a short film in Rome, Italy, which was an absolute dream to live and work in Europe, and previous to that, worked on a documentary in Lima, Peru.
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I am currently based in New York City and, when I'm not on set, you can most likely run into me at the Metrograph, Film at Lincoln Center, a coffee shop that actually has wifi, or second hand bookstores in the art section. Please feel free to reach out if you want a museum buddy, thoughtful conversation over a (too hot) cup of coffee, or to exchange ideas and collaborate. Cheers, dears!
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An idealist in a fallen world, Nina Di Salvo creates surreal, fantastical, daydream-like media set in our everyday world. She is a filmmaker, writer, and major cinephile who aspires to be aesthetically compatible with the minds of Mia Hansen-Love, Joanna Hogg, Alice Rohrwacher, Edward Lang, Jennifer Fox, David Lynch, Josephine Decker, Richard Linklater, Julie Taymor, and Eric Rohmer. Whenever she's not taking herself on a 'cinema survey' or reading filmmaker autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs, Nina is most likely strolling through the parks of NYC, Brooklyn, and Hoboken, hopping in second hand bookshops, or hovering over a too-hot cup of coffee.
Fascinated by the separation between our interior and exterior lives, the constant flow of connection and disconnection, mental disorder, and our own alternative realties, Nina is in a constant state of observation and discussion. Most of Nina's stories appear light, feminine, and innocent, but in actuality, shield a darker reality, intention, repression, or flaw. Nina enjoys things that are falling apart, people or place, and the messages we tell ourselves to keep it all together, fact or fiction. There is an element of fantasy in all our lives, something that is both romantic, bright, and light, as well as mysterious consuming, and dark.
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Nina is currently writing her first feature film, Vada, while continuing to work on video and short form projects. She has worked for the Walt Disney Company, Sony, WGN America, Mobile First Entertainment, Production on Fifth, Liberty Films, Jazz at Lincoln Center, SCAD, and with various independent artists. Nina is also a production designer who would love to art department assist on your productions.
