Meera Menon

Last updated
Meera Menon
Meera Menon at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival (cropped).jpg
Menon at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Born
Park Ridge, NJ
Alma mater Columbia University (BA)
University of Southern California (MFA)
Occupations
  • Director
  • Writer
  • Editor
Years active2009–present
SpousePaul Gleason

Meera Menon is an 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 with her husband, cinematographer Paul Gleason. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Menon‘s family is from Kerala, India. Menon cited her father Vijayan, a film producer and a founder of Tara Arts, an English cultural ambassador for South India that showcases musicals and films, [3] as her earliest inspiration for filmmaking, using his camera to shoot films at a young age with her next-door neighbour. [4] 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 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 that she started to get a great deal of recognition from the media.

Menon's first full-length feature film, Farah Goes Bang, 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] 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]

In 2015, Menon directed the female-driven Wall Street drama Equity. [8] The film premiered in Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. [9]

In 2016, Menon also wrote and directed the short film The Press Conference for Refinery29's ShatterBox Anthology, a series of 12 shorts written and directed by women. The short premiered on Refinery29 on 23 September 2016. [10]

She had also worked as a director on the TV series The Magicians for an episode in the third, and two in the fourth season.

According to Syfy in 2022, Menon will direct a film based on Naomi Novik's best-selling YA fantasy A Deadly Education , in development by Mandeville Films as part of a series bought by Universal Hollywood. [11]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriterNotes
2009Mark in ArgentinaYesYes
2013 Farah Goes Bang YesYes
  • 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
2016 Equity YesNo
The Press ConferenceYesYes
2025Didn't DieYesYes

Television

YearTitleNotes
2017 Blood Drive 2 episodes
Fear the Walking Dead Episode "This Land Is Your Land"
2018 Titans Episode "Together"
GLOW Episode "The Good Twin"
The Man in the High Castle Episode "History Ends"
The Magicians 4 episodes
2019 The Punisher Episode "The Abyss"
The Walking Dead Episode "Bounty"
The Terror: Infamy Episode "My Perfect World"
You Episode "Farewell, My Bunny"
Outlander 2 episodes
2020 Dirty John Episode "The Turtle and the Alligator"
2021 For All Mankind 2 episodes
2022 Ms. Marvel 2 episodes
Westworld Episode "Metanoia"

References

  1. ↑ "Farah Goes Bang (2013)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Dave McNary (25 April 2013). "Meera Menon Wins Inaugural Nora Ephron Prize at Tribeca". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Filmmaker". Meera Menon. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Believer Logger — Girls Behind The Camera: An Interview with Meera Menon – Girls Behind The Camera: An Interview with Meera". Logger.believermag.com. 27 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  5. 1 2 "'Farah Goes Bang' Director Meera Menon Talks About Her Fresh Take on The Road Movie | Tribeca". Tribecafilm.com. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Farah Goes Bang (2013) Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Samantha Highfill (23 April 2013). "Tribeca Film Festival: Meera Menon wins Nora Ephron Prize". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Dave McNary (17 March 2015). "Meera Menon to Direct Female-Driven Wall Street Drama for Broad Street Pictures". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Chang, Justin (2 December 2015). "Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2016 Competition, Next Films" . Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Meera Menon's Newest Film: The Press Conference". MSN . Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "A DEADLY EDUCATION' NOVEL TO BECOME FANTASY FILM HELMED BY 'MS. MARVEL' ALUM MEERA MENON". Syfy. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023. So far, there's no early word on casting or a release date for A Deadly Education's upcoming magical matriculation in theaters.
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