David Black interviews Shannon Meilak for the Australian Short Film Network
Shannon Meilak is a multi-award winning director in Melbourne. I first met her when I was a featured extra on a student film called “Dog Eat Dog”. Little was I to know that this lady, who was doing the catering, would soon be barreling ahead to become a force within the Aussie indie film industry.
Today, I get to chat to her again and find out the secrets of success!
DB – Thanks for taking the time to chat to me today Shannon. Where did you get this unbridled enthusiasm for film making? What got you into it all and how did you start?
SM – Thanks David. My initial love for the creative image began with 3 years of high school photography. After completing high school, I enrolled in a diploma of photography at P.I.C (Photographic Imaging College) with an elective in film. Due to ill health I was unable to complete the course, but I never forgot my love of the film elective.
In my 20’s I worked for Village cinemas for a period of 5 years and in that time, went to see every film cinematically released. Getting bored with mainstream film, I discovered film festivals and regularly attended a range of them. I also become an extra – just so I could watch the magic behind the screen. After many years, I finally enrolled in film school at the age of 32 and have not looked back since.
Winning entry of the Altona Beach Film Festival Photography Competition. Photo title 'Journeying Though SPACE'
DB – The first short that you wrote and directed was called “Flatline”. Can you tell us a bit about it?
SM – They say write what you know and an unjust welfare system was something I had experienced first-hand. Every time I had to walk into a Centrelink office and be assessed, I felt so demoralised and was treated as just another number in the system. Those who spoke English as a second language were often yelled at in the hope that it would somehow help them understand the language better. If you dare ask for assistance in actually finding work, you were met with a smirk and moved along. I even saw religious discrimination that sickened me.
So many people had been mistreated in this system and I felt their story needed to be told. That is where ‘Flatline” comes in. The story follows a man down on his luck and looking for government assistance. He quickly becomes caught in bureaucratic red tape and paperwork, becoming a ‘zombie’ of the system; left without hope, aimless and never able to leave.
Flatline behind the scenes
DB – You actually traveled to India while you were studying at Swinburne, and produced your first short film there! You have to tell me that story!
SM – Yes I did and it was great! It was not the first film I made, but the first film that I produced. In my second year at Swinburne, an opportunity arose for me to do a study tour in India and there was no way I missing out on that opportunity.
Through the study tour, I was able to visit some Bollywood film sets, meet acclaimed directors and filmmakers and produce a short film that centred around the discrimination of women make-up artists in the Indian film industry. It was a phenomenal experience. In my third year at Swinburne I was fortunate enough to be given another opportunity to participate in a study tour, this time in Italy where I studied Italian neo-realism.
Shannon with other students and Bollywood star Rahul Bhat
DB – We won’t get to cover everything that you have achieved in this short interview Shannon, but I am curious that you branched out to direct a documentary. Can you tell us about “Beyond the Pointy Hat”?
SM - I have always been interested in documentary and ‘Beyond the Pointy Hat’ was a bit of a passion project for me. I have been a witch for 20 years and one thing that comes with that is fear, loathing and hatred by others. I am also Wiccan, a religious practice that involves witchcraft and a belief system that is often misjudged and discriminated against.
I wanted to take the opportunity to explain what witchcraft is to those who have no experience with it and rather than have a bunch of whinging witches on screen talking about how badly done by they were, I choose to take a light and humorous approach that not only dispels many of the myths, but invites the audience to see first-hand what a ritual with a coven of witches actually looks like.
The funny thing is, this film was made whilst at film school and deemed a bit of a failure by the lecturers. The story was even judged not good enough for the end of year graduate screening. How ironic that with just a tweak of the sound mix, the film went on to win multiple awards, received nominations and special mentions and has now screened on every inhabited continent – and that was before its release on streaming platforms and international broadcast television!
Beyond the Pointy Hat - behind the scenes
DB – So Shannon, your rocket rise has been amazing. Where is the space ship headed? What are your future plans?
SM – The pandemic has unfortunately brought things to a bit of a holt. Like most people, I lost gigs I had lined up and due to restrictions, was not allowed to film any new projects in Melbourne.
I was scheduled to begin work on a Parmish Verma (Bollywood) feature titled ‘Shudai’ – but the director and actors were unable to get to Australia to begin filming. As such the project has been put on hold. I wanted to be productive during lock down, so I began running youth zoom workshops for Brimbank Council.
I was also invited to judge the ‘Free Speech Film Festival’ in Philadelphia last year. With things now looking to normalise a bit, I am hoping to work on a new documentary I have been toying with for a number of years. Like all of my work, it will deal with an important social issue, but I once again hope to bring my unique style of storytelling to the film.
Shannon with Vince Gil of Mad Max fame (he played the night rider) taken on set of the music video for 'MFP' by The Dark Clouds
DB – Where can our readers follow your work Shannon?
SM –
Website: www.shannonmeilak.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/infinitehighway
Amazon Prime Video: https://amzn.to/3lCJ82k
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