Who Is Lana Melman?
LANA MELMAN is an attorney, a 20-year entertainment industry veteran, a public speaker, author, columnist, commentator, and the CEO of Liberate Art Inc. She has been a leading expert fighting the cultural boycott campaign against Israel since 2011. Her column Hollywood Stories appears in The Jerusalem Post Magazine.
More than a Q&A, Hollywood Stories creates a rounded portrait and offers the subject’s perspective and insights on contemporary issues close to their hearts. The tone is conversational, but the goal is to encourage critical thinking and offer a touchstone for debate. Subjects include Oscar-winning producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs), actress Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage), and TV & Radio personality Dr. Drew Pinsky, alongside cultural commentary and book reviews.
Her book, Artists Under Fire: The BDS War Against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel, puts the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign (BDS) against Israel on trial. Lana tells the stories of artists and entertainers like Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, and Carlos Santana caught in its crossfire. She calls out a vocal group of artists, led by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, who have joined the attack and created a star-studded battle between themselves and the thousands of musicians, filmmakers, and authors who refuse to be cowed.
Book awards include the 2022 Nellie Bly Prize Blue Ribbon Winner for Nonfiction Journalism and the 2023 NYC Big Book Award in Cultural and Social Issues. Artists Under Fire was an Amazon New Release Best Seller in four categories.
Lana began her career in the entertainment industry as an attorney for Columbia Pictures Television and a business affairs executive at CBS. She later worked as a creative executive at CBS, Warner Bros., the Leonard Goldberg Company, and Paramount, then as a writer and executive producer.
She served as the premier director of Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), an entertainment-based non-profit. During her four years there (2011-2015), Lana worked with the representatives of almost a thousand artists pressed to boycott Israel and prevented numerous cancellations of scheduled concert dates in Israel.
In 2014, she helped circulate a statement supporting Israel’s right to defend itself signed by over 300 Hollywood luminaries, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Seth Rogen, Kelsey Grammer, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Arnold, Benji Madden, and Sarah Silverman. She worked closely with Scarlett Johansson‘s representative during the SodaStream/Super Bowl controversy and with Alicia Keys’ team when she received extreme boycott pressure for her performance in Tel Aviv.
As CEO of Liberate Art, Lana united five-time Grammy winner Ziggy Marley together with the Jewish National Fund (JNF) for its clean water initiative and produced the first anti-BDS celebrity panel featuring artists from film, television, and music. Participants included musician Alan Parsons (the Alan Parsons Project) and the iconic writer/producer/director David Zucker (Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Scary Movies).
She also served as the Hollywood liaison for Yad Vashem’s “Who is your Holocaust Hero” initiative and advised members of the UK Parliament regarding anti-BDS legislation.
Her op-eds, interviews, and commentary have appeared in international media outlets including American Thinker, The Los Angeles Times, Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, Jewish News Service (JNS), South Africa Jewish Report, Christian Broadcasting Network, Jewish News Britain, Eurasia Review, Jüdische Allgemeine, and The Authority Magazine. She has been quoted by publications such as Commentary Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety Magazine, Deadline Hollywood, and Fox News.
She is a go-to source for information on Hollywood and Israel, and for commentary for journalists; a frequent guest on TV and talk radio; and has been invited to speak in forums large and small.
Lana is a Co-Founder of the EndJewHatred Movement, a speaker on JNF-USA Speaker’s Bureau, and a member of the JNF Arts and Entertainment Task Force. Her column Reflections appeared in the South Florida Jewish Journal/Sun Sentinel from 2023-2024.
Liberate Art, Inc. is dedicated to combating antisemitism and anti-Israel bias within the entertainment industry. Since its establishment in 2015, it has been at the forefront of confronting the cultural boycott campaign (BDS) against Israel and supporting international artists who choose engagement over exclusion.
Through education, advocacy, and media, we promote accurate narratives and foster greater understanding of Israel, Jewish identity, and the role of culture in shaping public perception.
In 2025, this work expanded through Hollywood Stories, a series of written profiles and video interviews that spotlight notable figures from across the entertainment industry whose voices and experiences contribute meaningfully to the cultural conversation.
Together, these efforts educate, engage, and empower both the entertainment community and the public through storytelling, dialogue, and direct advocacy.