Description

Meghan Ross is a New York-born, Jersey-raised, Austin-based writer/director, comedian, and activist who loves to put a feel-good spin on feel-bad stuff by making social issues more accessible through comedy. She was selected for Women at Sundance Adobe Fellowship, Sundance Episodic Lab, NewNarratives grant from NewFilmmakers LA & Warner Bros. Discovery’s OneFifty, and Table Read My Screenplay: Park City’s Top 10 Finalists for her half-hour comedy Here to Make Friends (also her personal tagline).

Her previous shorts premiered on The New Yorker and made their Best of 2020 list: If You Ever Hurt My Daughter, I Swear to God I’ll Let Her Navigate Her Own Emotional Growth featuring narration by Jon Hamm (nominated for The Webby Awards), and Finally a Female Presidential Candidate Likable Enough For Men featuring narration by Rachel Bloom. Her writing has been published in VICE, Reductress, The Toast, IFC, TV Without Pity, Slackjaw, and more. 

Takeaways

• Ensure the writing is in a good place before starting production.
• Adapting a pilot into a short film can be challenging due to differences in storytelling approaches.
• Know why you're making a film and be able to convince others to support your project.
• Hire BIPOC and underrepresented people to bring diversity and inclusivity to your productions.
• Make the most of fellowships and programs by advocating for yourself and building relationships with fellow participants.
• Adapt your career goals and consider indie filmmaking as a viable path in a challenging industry.
• Continue creating and learning from rejections and failures.

Episode Credits:

Produced and hosted by Charla Lauriston

Theme song and Segment Jingles composed and produced by Brendan Byrnes

Canva Artwork by Daiana Cordo