Filmmaker Files - Episode 13 - Meera Menon

Meera Menon is a Jersey-born, LA-based filmmaker whose directing credits include the feature films EQUITY (2016 Sundance Film Festival) and FARAH GOES BANG (Nora Ephron Prize winner, 2013 Tribeca Film Festival). Meera has worked on television shows such as GLOW, HALT AND CATCH FIRE, THE MAGICIANS, OUTLANDER, THE TERROR, MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and THE WALKING DEAD. 

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Describe a moment in your career you felt most brave.

I think about that old truism - how your career is made out of the things you choose NOT to do. I probably have felt most brave saying no to high-profile opportunities that just didn’t feel right. For example, when a brown character is painted one-dimensionally, or there’s a female character in a shower scene for no reason.  That being said, I’ve said yes to a lot of big opportunities, that eventually didn’t feel so great the deeper I got into it. I haven’t always been able to snuff out what will feel problematic by the time I get on set. But when I do, I feel brave. 

In one’s artistic life, there are some very long seconds or moments, that make us stop. There may be an epiphany or a shift. Can you tell us about a recent one?

The whole world has stopped right now, so this is certainly a moment for reflection! Early February was the last time I was on set, and I remember that I was so tired of filming, all I could think about was this fantasy of time.  A few days before wrap I had an epiphanic moment - The hair and make-up team ran in and did last looks. As they rushed by, I realized how much I loved the smell of hair products that emerges from this invisible cloud - a punctuation in preparation. I made it a point to remind myself of that smell, among so many other small details of the joys of being on set. I’m glad I took that minute to recognize that no matter how tired I am, this moment, right before you roll on a take, is the end point of a journey that you will just start all over again. Enjoy it! 

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Now, continuing to reflect. What was THE film that made you want to be a filmmaker?

I read the play STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE in high school and then saw Elia Kazan’s filmed adaptation. It set off fireworks in my brain as I hadn’t quite put together the script-to-screen process that way before. Or perhaps... it was just Brando!

What was a recent film, video or series that you had a visceral response to?

Tarkovsky’s film MIRROR. It had been a minute since I’d seen a film that so thoroughly messed with the form. At first, I was kind of mad at it, but then that frustration transformed into awe.

On the future. What is next for you? 

What’s next for any of us? Lol. I am just writing and developing stuff right now. I hope to be shooting something again by the summer, like everyone else. Just thinking about last looks made me sad and miss being on set. 

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What keeps you going? 

A general interest in humanity, a desire to know its stories. 

What does the world need now? 

Human connection, and stories that affirm that. 

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And my final, favorite part - 8 movie scenes/filmmaker quotes that you love or are definitive of your attitude and inspiration.

  • The scene where the boy runs out into a field of yellow flowers in RATCATCHER.

  • The opening scenes in BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, when the alien emerges from the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty behind him. 

  • The visit to Joel’s childhood in ETERNAL SUNSHINE.

  • Natalie Wood going crazy in the bathtub in SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS.

  • The key party and general 1970s suburban malaise in THE ICE STORM .

  • The baptism/shootout in THE GODFATHER.

  • The triangular compositions of faces in KNIFE IN THE WATER.

  • River Phoenix in RUNNING ON EMPTY. Or James Dean in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Just painful, sensitive young ennui. That’s my vibe sometimes. ;)


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