Melissa Regan

Melissa Regan got the documentary filmmaking bug about 10 years ago. Last year she made her first documentary, and last month it received an honorable mention at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Utah film festival, America's premier showcase for new films, started 20 years ago to provide small, independent filmmakers with a venue to display their work. Since the film "sex, lies and videotape" achieved popular success in 1989, the festival has often screened films that have become Hollywood successes.

The independent filmmaker still has a place at Sundance, however. Ms. Regan, who grew up in Middletown and now lives in Palo Alto, Calif., entered "No Dumb Questions" into the film shorts category at Sundance. There were 70 films in the category. Along with a grand-prize winner, there were six honorable mentions. Of the seven films honored in that category, "No Dumb Questions" was the only documentary.

The 24-minute film chronicles the reactions of three sisters, ages 11, 9 and 6, to their uncle's sex-change. Their Uncle Bill is becoming Aunt Barbara.

Ms. Regan, 34, is friends with the girls' parents, and when the parents told her what they would soon be telling their daughters, she asked if she could record the girls' reactions on tape. "The members of this family are very open with each other," Ms. Regan said. "They're great at using humor to get through situations."

In the film's production notes, Ms. Regan indicated that her own family had also experienced a similarly difficult period. "I felt sure that if shared, this family's experience could help individuals and families struggling with all sorts of issues of change and misunderstood/socially unaccepted differences."

Ms. Regan is a 1985 graduate of Middletown High School. She studied mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech and earned her graduate degree in the field at Stanford. "I've been wanting to make documentary films for about 10 years," she said. "I got caught up in the whole high-tech, dot-com thing."

She now designs interactive courses as the director for e-learning product development for Stanford's Graduate School of Business. She co-founded an early Internet software company, taught math, science and engineering and published research on uses of technology for learning.

In the back of her mind, however, she wanted to make films. "I've always been intrigued by how movies are made," she said. In college, she became interested in the storytelling potential of documentaries. "It's real life with a new perspective," she said.

Upon learning that her friends would be explaining a difficult issue to their children, she decided to pursue the project. "I thought it would be great if we could share it with a few people," she said.

In the documentary, the parents talked about telling their daughters about their uncle's sex change. The two older girls were hesitant about this move, but the youngest child was excited and wanted to know if her new aunt will play Barbies with her and help her paint her nails.

The older two girls gradually accepted the event, and enjoyed their meeting with their new Aunt Barbara. This visit is included in the film. These events weren't staged. One or the other of their parents was always present during the taping.

Ms. Regan made the film using consumer-level products. She used Sony mini-digital cameras, plug-in microphones and utility lights from the garage. She edited the documentary on iMovie, software that comes with Macintosh computers.

"I'm inspired to help other people tell their own stories," she said. "I'd like to form an organization to support and enable non-profit organizations to use videos to tell their stories."

Ms. Regan entered the film in other festivals, and it won awards at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the Shorts International Film Festival in New York and the Boulder (Colo.) Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

"After it won awards, my confidence grew, and I decided to give Sundance a shot," she said. "The Sundance audiences were great. They laughed in all the right places, and said 'aww' in all the right places."

At Sundance, she was approached by cable television companies about showing the film on cable outlets. She also met executives in the documentary industry, who may help her get backing for future projects. "I sort of have a little bit of a relationship with some of these people," she said. "It opens the door."

She has ideas for more documentaries. "But none that I'm ready to talk about yet," she said.

Melissa Regan is a Sundance award-winning filmmaker whose work has appeared on HBO, PBS, MTV and Oprah.

Melissa’s documentary film NO DUMB QUESTIONS and related “ask your own dumb question, tell your own story” campaign are changing hearts, minds, and policies in schools, colleges, and communities around the world. Client projects include an award-winning short documentary series for The Coca-Cola Company about water and sanitation in Africa.

Melissa has a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. She lives in Oakland, CA.

Melissa is a Sundance award-winning filmmaker, tech entrepreneur, educational product designer, public speaker and mechanical engineer.


Melissa's film work has appeared on HBO, PBS and Oprah. Her funny and touching film NO DUMB QUESTIONS -- about 6, 9 and 11 year old sisters whose Uncle Bill is becoming their new Aunt Barbara -- is helping families, schools, colleges and workplaces talk to kids about topics of transgender and sexual orientation. Melissa and her team are now finishing a new documentary film about Sister Simone Campbell and the NUNS ON THE BUS -- rebel nuns fighting to save democracy.

Melissa has produced award-winning social change films for nonprofit and corporate clients, designed award-winning educational software, co-founded an early Internet software company, taught math, science and engineering, and published research on innovative uses of technology for learning. She has a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.