Meet Melissa Tomjanovich of Saul T. Nut Productions in Highland Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Tomjanovich.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When asked this question: how you started and how you got to where you are today – what shouts over the chronological facts is the notion that time is an illusion. I don’t mean to sound cryptic or pretentious but I have a hard time defining my trajectory with a beginning leading to the arrival of today. The feeling of arriving is elusive to me.

Maybe because I’m currently at an artistic crossroads. Maybe I’ll always be at an artistic crossroads. But I can say, the guiding force in my life, what has ushered me to this present moment, is my insatiable curiosity.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not smooth at all, haha. The struggles seem inherent to living a creative life – how to juggle art with the need to make money (if your art doesn’t support you financially) while nurturing relationships with your loved ones and yourself. It’s a constant striving for balance. It can be very painful but worth it! Personally, my openness and interest in various mediums sometimes overwhelms because it can be a case of having too many choices: I want to make my videos, another photography zine, a feature film, put on a play, make a book of poems, create an immersive dance theater piece. And paint! It is likely quixotic to think I could do all but the desire is there and when you haven’t merged art with income – i.e., there is no outside influence forcing a choice – what’s the harm in exploring various mediums. But you must make a choice.

At the moment, I’m concentrating on writing more narrative scripts. Becoming a mother has created an alchemy where I feel an urgent need to discover if I can truly marry art with making money – and if I were to merge the two, really merge, not just take on projects where I have total freedom (which is deeply satisfying!) but where it is my job, would I be happy? I suspect I would be but there’s always the cost of compromise in that merging and sometimes it is too high a price to pay but I’m eager to give a go!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a writer, director, editor and producer. I’m also an archive producer and Pilates teacher – ha! All roles are complementary and enhance one another. I like to shine a light on the surreal nature of existence, revealing the magic in the mundane. I’m DIY and create with no budget and while I value the priceless creativity that working with no budget has afforded me, I’m so very ready to expand! Most of my video work involves some element of movement/dance. As a writer, a common thread throughout is the theme of outcasts – people cast aside by society or people with psyches at odds with the status quo. Editing is where it’s at for me. It’s akin to sculpting. It’s where the narrative is discovered. It’s a wildly kinetic, symphonic and even spiritual experience!

I’m probably most proud of the 2×2 film series created with my husband, Jesse K. Phillips as our audiovisual duo NUBU. 2×2 are exercises defined by limitation. The video is edited in only 2 hours using existing footage and the soundtrack is arranged within a separate 2-hour block. I collate random footage be it my home movies, footage that never found a home or public domain films and we take turns going first – either I create a film inspired by Jesse’s song or he composes based on my film. It is a crucible to take disparate elements, weave them together, unearthing unseen meaning into a new narrative – all in 2 hours! It’s ecstasy really, a thrill to be surprised and categorically delighted by the finished piece. It also has psychological valance for me because I’m plagued with perfectionism that can quell creativity and here I’m forced to let that go and how interesting that these improvisatory acts are my most prized at this time.

What were you like growing up?
Very much like I am now: curious, empathic, joyful, hard on myself, eager to please, eager to entertain. An animist, synesthetic, with one foot in another dimension. Always dancing, always trying to ease people’s suffering. Best friends with animals, real and not real. Very expressive sartorially and would dress like the love child of Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Prince and a fierce shoulder pad laden businesswoman. I loved to perform and challenge myself physically through sports, dance, gymnastics.

On the outside I seemed an extrovert with a motley of friends, always having fun but internally I was also anxiety-ridden and worried about OCD things like separating a family of shampoo bottles if I bought that particular Finesse bottle – what if he was the baby of the family? Tortured myself by trying to understand unfathomable serial killers – how could that evil exist? I self-diagnosed myself with the most gruesome and rare of diseases and this was before WebMD, my little hands furiously flipping through Encyclopedia Britannica. I had/have an overactive imagination and it comes with its blessings and curses!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melissatomjanovich.space/
• Email: astrogrut@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameldragon/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/cameldragon

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