Melody Sylvester
Melody Sylvester is one half of the rather shockingly named Angel Slut Productions - not a porn movie operation but two women who are bringing a new edge to the local nightlife scene with their string of hip-hop parties, titled Honeypot. Their most recent bash at Central's Red Rock bar featured a life-sized ice sculpture: a naked, winged woman with vodka pouring out of her mouth, breasts and 'honeypot'.
Prospective drinkers were invited to kneel before the ice queen and slurp their vodka shots from her frozen body. DJ Ricky Swan spun vibrant hip-hop and R&B tracks as the entire bar plunged into a euphoric haze of drunken silliness. The night was a success: revellers rocked the dance floor well into the early hours when the sculpture was all but a puddle in the corner of the room.
'It's about the music and dancing and no dress code,' says the striking South Londoner, as she lounges in a Central coffee shop. 'We want people to feel like they can come in wearing trainers, or high heels and hot pants if they feel like it - it is hip-hop after all.'
Sylvester is an insatiable party starter. Born to Jamaican parents who 'emphasised the importance of education', the 30-year-old grew up yearning to get involved in film and media. She graduated with a joint honours degree in English and American literature and film at the University of Kent in southern England in 1994 and immediately moved back to London to work for a Soho production company. Says Sylvester: 'In my mind, you can divide people into two groups: those who are naturally talented with equipment, and those who are natural with people and organisation: 'knob twiddlers' and 'paper shufflers'. I've always been a paper shuffler and people mover.'
Her ability to organise projects alerted headhunters who tracked her down in 1995 for a job as a production assistant in one of London's leading advertising agencies, Lowe Howard-Spink. She worked on commercials for the likes of Heineken, Smirnoff and Reebok, before being snapped up by London's leading editing company, Final Cut Limited, to run the London office. As executive producer she worked on music videos such as Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy, Madonna's Frozen and Robbie William's Rock DJ. The company then sent their whizz kid to New York to open an American office.
