After two decades in the entertainment industry, Melissa Lintinger is currently Vice President of Production Finance at BET Networks, managing a team of twenty-five accountants in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. With a big smile and sense of humor, she leads her team, reports on production costs and collaborates with the production department. Among her greatest achievements is having implemented the processes that have enabled the transformation of BET’s programming into high-rated scripted series, such as The Game.
Prior to this, Melissa was CFO of Bombo Sports & Entertainment, a production company specializing in sports programming. In that role she helped secure funding for a slate of films and was responsible for all of Bombo’s financial and operational management.
Melissa joined Oxygen Media shortly before its launch in 2000 to create the production finance department and implement policies, procedures and reporting in a dynamic start-up environment. She rose to VP there and helped navigate the wild ride of launching a cable network. Her responsibilities expanded to include the financial supervision of consumer marketing, on-air promotion, research and the public relations departments in addition to the original and acquired programming areas.
Melissa earned a BS in Marketing and International Business and a Finance MBA from New York University. While in business school, she decided to follow her bliss and began taking film production classes at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Producing — first student, then independent — films got her hooked on the energy and problem solving involved in the production process.
Melissa lives in downtown Manhattan with her husband, son, daughter and French bulldog. She is a member of WICT, the New York Women in Film and Television, Media Financial Management Association (MFM), as well as the Treasurer of the PTA of her children’s school. In her rare free time, she likes to visit the Museum of Modern Art, read novels, travel, and indulge in the food and music of her hometown, New Orleans.
