Biography
Meera Menon is an Indian-American filmmaker known for directing, writing, and editing. Her feature debut, Farah Goes Bang, premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the inaugural Nora Ephron Prize from Tribeca and Vogue. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
Menon’s earliest inspiration came from her father, Vijayan Menon, a film producer who founded Tara Arts, an organization promoting South Indian culture through musicals and films. She began making films using her father’s camera alongside a neighbor. Though her parents encouraged her artistic pursuits, her father viewed filmmaking as a hobby rather than a career path.
Menon did not seriously consider filmmaking until attending Columbia University, where she took classes taught by professional filmmakers. She earned a BA in English and Art History, and during her time there, began directing films and developing a passion for the craft. She later obtained an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
In 2009, Menon wrote and directed the short film Mark in Argentina, which follows a governor searching for his mistress in Argentina. However, her feature-length debut Farah Goes Bang brought her significant media attention. The film, co-written with Laura Goode, who also produced it, was praised by Jennifer Mills for blending genres such as the road movie, coming-of-age, political, and buddy film. Farah Goes Bang won the Nora Ephron Prize, as well as awards at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and CAAMFest.
In addition to directing, Menon has worked as an editor on Larry King Now and contributed camera work and art direction to various independent projects.
In 2015, Menon directed Equity, a female-led Wall Street drama that competed at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The following year, she wrote and directed The Press Conference, a short film for Refinery29’s ShatterBox Anthology—a series featuring shorts by women filmmakers—which premiered on September 23, 2016.
Menon has also directed episodes of the television series The Magicians, including one episode in the third season and two episodes in the fourth season.
