HI, I’M MEGHAN
I'm a Filmmaker,
Writer, Artist and
Certified People Person
on a mission to document, understand and honor the
depth and breadth of
the human experience.
People
I am interested in personal and family history and how these map onto larger narratives of history, the interrelation of families, government, and public policy and how people develop over their lifetimes and make meaning of their lives.
My work lives at the crossroads of documentary, essay & ethnography. I make documentary portrait films, create audio histories, facilitate Guided Autobiography writing workshops, and work with clients to sort and digitize their personal archives.
I focus on the lives of everyday people, valuing their stories as much as those of celebrated figures. My goal is to add historically underrepresented stories to the historical archive thereby creating a richer document and understanding of the time we live in for now and for posterity.
and the lives they have lived are the lens through which I see the world. Making art about the people I meet is the way I make sense of everything.
and the lives they have lived are the lens through which I see the world. Making art about the people I meet is the way I make sense of everything.
I spent lunch hours in the history and world religion aisles of the school library searching for answers to my teenage suffering and weekends relishing the pleasures of the slow-burn romance by casting in my home movie reenactments of Jane Austin's
Pride & Prejudice.
So, at the time, Hollywood
seemed like the clear path
to make my mark.
Growing Up...
spent 13 years bushwhacking my way around the film industry trying to carve out a path of both creative control and career development. With colleagues, I started a film production company through which I wrote, directed and produced works of both fiction and documentary for corporate and non-profit organization clients. And, I learned a bunch from working for other companies, most recently, as the COO of AIC Studios, an animation and VFX company producing feature films.
But, despite my best efforts I burned out. The stillness of burnout was a blessing. It made me realize that I was off track, and that I needed only to look down at my own hands to see that I had been holding the golden thread of my life all along.
I
I followed that thread and heard my first film professor's weary voice pleading with his class of clueless film students, "Please," he said, "make something that matters."
I remembered the film I had made about my grandfather in the weeks after his death.
It was the only true thing
I had ever made.
I saw them take on the daunting task of organizing and enacting my grandmother’s care; of sorting through my grandparent’s entire lives; and of making the hard decisions that we must make as the caregiver children of ailing parents. There had been so much to do that there was hardly time to rest, let alone to reflect and engage in the conversations that are often left undone between family members.
My grandfather had died before I had the opportunity to ask him what his life had meant to him. And now, as I watched my grandmother begin to slip in and out of lucidity, I knew that time to ask her about her internal world was short.
So, I turned my camera back to my family and gave myself permission to pursue what had always been my deepest curiosity— people and the lives they have lived.
I
I remembered that when my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, my parents not only became her hands but her voice.
thought of my parents who taught me about caring, stewardship and our responsibility to others—
values that have defined my life.
thought of my parents who taught me about caring, stewardship and our responsibility to other— values that have defined my life.
Where I know from
Winnipeg,
Manitoba 1930
Vancouver, BC 1927
Tisdale,
Saskatchwan1933
"Learning how t0 the stories,
learning how to the stories—
what they us and
what they can teach
is really the of our existence here."
—Marilyn Nelson
"LEARNING HOW TO THE STORIES,
LEARNING HOW TO
THE STORIES
WHAT THEY US AND WHAT THEY CAN TEACH
IS REALLY THE
OF OUR EXISTENCE HERE."
understand
tell
teach
other people—
essence
knew that I had found my calling when I was approached in the theater by a young man after the screening of one of my films; he told me that my film had made him think about his father who had recently passed, and that it had brought him comfort.
What I realized is that I am good at the thing I care about most— connecting with others. And that I have been preparing my whole life to do exactly this work.
The documentary portrait films I have made since then have investigated the institution of marriage, labor politics, experiences of illness & the medical field, compassion, women’s cognitive & psychosocial development, female friendship, motherhood & fertility, and family dynamics.
Art & Archive, the umbrella under which I make commissioned family history artworks, is an ongoing project to make both art & archive of my clients lives. It is my way of being in communion with and of service to my community.
I
CRYSTAL - COLOR
CRYSTAL - COLOR
Art & Archive
I am known for my warm interview style, unending curiosity, and zest for archival research.
I am committed to integrity, equity, posterity and, of course, to levity. I take my contribution to both art & archive seriously; your story is my joy and helping you tease out the golden thread of your life is my privilege.