Contact Melissa

Melissa Totten - Communications

Melissa brings a multidisciplinary approach to her work in the arts. A former documentary writer-producer for PBS in Los Angeles, she is the recipient of two area Emmy awards for “Bakersfield Country!” – a cultural history of the development of roots music in California’s San Joaquin Valley. For that documentary, she worked with Merle Haggard, the Maddox Brothers & Rose, and Buck Owens. Her original series “The Works” featured performances by Ry Cooder, David Lindley, the Pahinui Brothers, Rosie Flores, and the Ventures. Melissa is the past Director of the Photo Archives for Twentieth Century Fox, where she launched and led preservation and access initiatives for a collection of over 10 million photographs. She currently runs a small arts and culture communications company, M+Co, based in Boston. She is a freelance writer, editor, and promotions executive. Her 30-year career in a variety of media ventures makes her an excellent fit for the New England Folk Music Archives. A graduate of Wesleyan University and the University of Texas at Austin, she holds an M.A. in American Studies.