Meera Menon

Meera Menon is an Indian–American director, writer, and editor. Her feature directorial debut, Farah Goes Bang,[1] screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 and was awarded the inaugural Nora Ephron Prize by Tribeca and Vogue.[2] She currently resides in Los Angeles.[3]

Early life

Menon cited her father as her earliest inspiration for filmmaking, using his camera to shoot films with her next-door neighbour.[4] Since her father, Vijayan Menon, is a film producer, Menon was exposed to filmmaking from a young age.[4] Her father is also a founder of Tara Arts, an English cultural ambassador for South India, showcasing musicals and films.[3] Menon says while her parents encouraged her to pursue the arts, her father advised her to look at it as a hobby.[4]

Because of this way of thinking about film, Menon did not seriously consider filmmaking as a career until she attended Columbia University, and took classes that were taught by professional filmmakers.[4] Menon she received a BA in English and Art History from Columbia, but while she was there, she began directing films and discovered a passion for the craft.[4] She went on to receive an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[3]

Career

In 2009, Menon wrote and directed the short film Mark in Argentina, a story about a governor searching for his mistress in Argentina. However, it wasn't until Menon released her feature-length debut when she started to get a great deal of recognition from the media.

Menon's first full-length feature film, Farah Goes Bang, was the product of an idea Menon had from a university class and was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign.[4] In an interview with The Believer, Menon said the idea came to her while she dealt with university life, which has such a strong focus on having sex. Menon wanted to see films where women exploring their sexuality later in life was not seen as abnormal.[4] The film was described by Jennifer Mills as one that, "explores many genres: the road movie, the sexual coming of age movie, the political film, the buddy movie.”[5] Menon co-wrote the film with Laura Goode, who also acted as a producer.[5] The film is under Elephant Shoe Pictures, a production company Menon created with her partner, Paul Gleason.[3] Not only did Menon win the Nora Ephron Prize for Farah Goes Bang, but the film also won awards at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and CAAMFest.[6][7]

Menon also works as an editor for Larry King Now, and has done camera work and art direction for other independent projects.[8]

For her latest project, Menon has signed on to direct an upcoming female-driven Wall Street drama.[9] The film, named Equity, is being produced by Broad Street Pictures.[9] Broad Street was founded by Alysia Reiner and Sarah Megan Thomas to produce films with strong females both in front of and behind the camera.[9] Reiner will also star in the film. Equity is scheduled to debut at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.[10] The film premiered In Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.[11]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2015 Equity Director
2013 Farah Goes Bang Writer, director and producer
  • Nominated – Best Director, Winter Film Awards
  • Nominated – Best Film, Winter Film Awards
  • Nominated – Best Narrative Feature, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
  • Nora Ephron Prize, Tribeca Film Festival
  • Best Feature, San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
2009 Mark in Argentina Writer and director

References

  1. ↑ "Farah Goes Bang (2013)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-01-02.
  2. ↑ Dave McNary (2013-04-25). "Meera Menon Wins Inaugural Nora Ephron Prize at Tribeca". Variety. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Filmmaker". Meera Menon. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Believer Logger — Girls Behind The Camera: An Interview with Meera Menon — Girls Behind The Camera: An Interview with Meera". Logger.believermag.com. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  5. 1 2 "'Farah Goes Bang' Director Meera Menon Talks About Her Fresh Take on The Road Movie | Tribeca". Tribecafilm.com. 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  6. ↑ "Farah Goes Bang (2013) Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-01-02.
  7. ↑ Samantha Highfill (2013-04-23). "Tribeca Film Festival: Meera Menon wins Nora Ephron Prize". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  8. ↑ Dave McNary (2015-12-09). "Female Directors Helming Only 6.4% of Movies: DGA Report". Variety. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  9. 1 2 3 Dave McNary (2015-03-17). "Meera Menon to Direct Female-Driven Wall Street Drama for Broad Street Pictures". Variety. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  10. ↑ Justin Chang (2015-12-02). "Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2016 Competition, Next Films". Variety. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  11. ↑ Chang, Justin. "Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2016 Competition, Next Films". Retrieved 18 January 2016.

External links

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