Mel Soria’s Instagram feed offers a visual tour of the storybook life of a music video director.

In one photo, he’s backlit on the stage set of a Panic! At the Disco video shoot. In another, his feet dangle from an open-air helicopter over the Statue of Liberty. Another shot shows him on a Manhattan rooftop one night and then overlooking a Moroccan skyline the next day.



Since graduating from Virginia Tech’s Industrial Design program in 2003, Soria has gone on to direct award-winning hit videos for bands like Fall Out Boy, Train, Panic! At the Disco, and New Politics. In 2015, his music video for Fall Out Boy’s hit single “Uma Thurman” won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video.

On Aug. 27, in MTV’s 34th Video Music Awards ceremony, hosted by Katy Perry, Soria is up for his second VMA. His video for Fall Out Boy’s “Young and Menace” (co-directed with longtime collaborator Brendan Walter) goes up against Best Rock Video nominees Coldplay, Twenty One Pilots, Green Day, and the Foo Fighters. The winner is selected by popular vote on MTV’s website.

“The important thing is the nomination, because winning is subjective,” Soria said. “Everyone who gets nominated is amazing at their job. As long as you’re in the same breath as those nominees, you’ve already won.”

At 35, Soria has racked up an impressive resume on IMDB, as well as recognition of his work in publications that range from American Cinematographer to Rolling Stone. The 2003 graduate of the School of Architecture + Design is quick to point out that his education at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies is the “secret weapon” that has allowed him “to hack into the world of film and distinguish myself as a director.”