Meet FC Member Meghan Shea
December 31, 2018
We were happy to welcome veteran filmmaker Meghan Shea into the FC Member community this past summer.
Meghan is an award winning documentary film director and producer. She began her career in film at Washington Media Associates as a researcher for “Peter Jennings: Reporting on Guantamnamo,” the first long-form television investigation into the Bush Administration’s detention and interrogation policies. From these beginnings Meghan has continued to work on research and cause-based media programming and pair that with her background in the arts. Together with her partner, in business and in marriage, Mike Rogers, Meghan heads up Persistent Productions which has offices in Massachusetts and Singapore. The driving force of Persistent Productions is to meld the art and science of storytelling in order to inform and inspire.
During a recent conversation with FC, Meghan shared with us how she draws upon her background in the arts to create work that examines issues from multiple viewpoints and global perspectives. Her work seeks to focus attention on national and international issues, and she produces content for broadcast, streaming, social channels and educational distribution.
Meghan’s documentary portfolio includes: “Under the Turban,” a feature-length documentary examining Sikhism, which premiered at The United Nations Film Festival; “In the Spirit of Laxmi,” a film about the re-wilding of a leopard in Rajasthan, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, went on to win Best Short Documentary at The Gold Coast Film Festival, and was screened at numerous festivals around the world.
Meghan’s most recently completed film was “How I Live,” a strikingly personal examination of the journey of four children battling cancer in resource-poor settings. Meghan’s immersion into the world of pediatric oncology began years before the idea for this film was born. For over 10 years she stood beside brother, Matt Shea, as he bravely faced and fought cancer as a teen and young adult. The finished documentary serves as a loving tribute to Matt’s journey and his life.
Currently, Meghan and the Persistent team are immersed in pre-production of their next film, “Down with X,” a documentary profile of Guatemalan artist Isabella Spingmuhl, the head designer for the Down to Xjabelle label. The film will explore what inspires her, how she built her internationally renown clothing line, and what it is like for her to work and live as a young woman with Down Syndrome. In describing the film, Meghan notes how as early as six years old Isabella was holding a pencil and designing clothing. Seeing the beauty in the world and the vibrancy in her native Guatemala is something that has always come naturally to her and influenced her drawings. She knew that she wanted to study fashion design to continue developing her artistry but the Universities she applied to denied her admission based on her having Down Syndrome. Undeterred and supported by her family, in her teens Isabella began creating her own fashion studio with the helping hands of her grandmother and mother creating the ‘Down to Xjabelle’ label.
Following the advice of fellow filmmaker (and valued FC member!) Tug Yourgrau, Meghan became attracted to the benefits of being an FC member and was particularly impressed with the organization’s reputation as a valued and experienced fiscal sponsor. We enthusiastically welcome Meghan into the FC fold and look forward to working with her and her fellow filmmakers as they continue to create moving and important works of non-fiction filmmaking.
