ARTIST TAKEOVER: Petra Jarrar Interviews Director Megan Roe
Petra Jarrar
Advocating For Women In The Arts.
When you're watching a music video by an artist you love, have you ever thought about who directed the music video? It's okay to admit that you probably haven't (I'm guilty of this myself). However, as I've continued creating visuals for my music releases, I began thinking about these important collaborative team members more. My inquiries only showed me what was missing in these teams, one big part is the lack of representation for female directors in the industry.
Statistics have gone on to reflect this sentiment. According to Amy Mole, director of the Birds Eye View Film Festival, less than 12% of films are made by female directors. That statistic becomes significantly smaller when focusing on specific categories such as music videos.
As a constant advocate for women in the arts, I decided to ensure my latest release, "Love Again", featured predominantly female collaborators, including Lena Leon for vocal production, Lexi Brown for photography, and Heather Rose for graphic design. While working on all of these various elements for my release, an opportunity to work with a female director, who is on the rise, stumbled into my lap.
Megan Roe, a director, choreographer, and animator based in New York City, is truly visionary in her field. I had the chance to discuss with Megan about her early beginnings, our work together on the "Love Again" music video, and get her perspective on what it's like to be breaking barriers in this male-dominated field.
Petra Jarrar: Hey Megan! How's it going? I'm so excited to be interviewing you. Let's start by introducing yourself to everyone.
Megan Roe: Hey, Petra, I'm doing well! This is actually my second interview with an artist I made a video with in the last month. It's exciting to reflect on the process formally! Okay, so my name is Megan Roe. I was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, where I grew up training in a competitive dance studio. After graduating high school, I went straight to NYC, where I studied contemporary and improvisational dance at the Steps on Broadway Conservatory. I started working on projects here and there, but my connections really grew after choreographing for Loop Troupe Family Band. I've met many amazing artists there with whom I collaborate on music videos, animations, and choreographing live shows. I spent seven years in BK, but it's almost been a year now since I've moved upstate. I've been teaching at a local dance studio and continue to work with artists in the city!
PJ: Tell me about your early beginnings. What got you into directing?
MR: At my dance studio as a kid, I assisted classes, and also at my performing arts high school, I helped the dance department director. Those years were a great practice in picking up movement, retaining it, and teaching it to others. I think from a young age, directing a group of people became a strong skill of mine. In my adolescence, I carried a camera with me everywhere, taking pictures and filming my friends. I didn't realize it then, but having a camera in my hands, I started grasping how camera movement and composition on screen is a tool in storytelling. My strong sense of imagery started me storyboarding, which naturally led me to direct my own compositions!
PJ: Who are your biggest inspirations when it comes to your visual work?
MR: Ahh, I'm constantly watching music videos. Seeing what works, what doesn't work, what unique techniques creatives are getting into. For a long time now, one of my biggest inspirations has been a dancer and director named Daniel Cloud Campos. He has such an amazing groove and musicality. He's directed so many awesome music videos but definitely check out "Gotta Run", an original song. His style and the crazy camera movements create such a fresh visual; I can't rave about it enough! I'm always striving to design unique and thoughtful work like him.
PJ: I know one of the reasons we are chatting today is because of the music video we just did together for my new single, "Love Again." I've talked a lot about my experience with this project, but I want to hear about it from your perspective. Could you tell us more about what it was like for you and Light & Glass to work on this video?
MR: You and I got in contact because my partner, Josh, shared my website on your post asking for collaborators. Simple as that! Then I reached out to Taylor Weinberg and Dan Shein (Light & Glass), who I've been friends with for years because of Loop Troupe. They are a crazy talented duo who I knew would be into this project. It was exciting because the three of us have been developing a good creative relationship together. This opportunity specifically offered us the chance to all showcase our skills and work effectively as a unit with a new artist.
PJ: How was working on "Love Again" different from your previous projects? What did you learn on this production that you took away as a new skill set for you as a director?
MR: When we first linked up, I came in with a huge idea! Very quickly, we had to scale it back because of time, money, location, etc. That's usually how it goes, but this process was unique because of our time constraints on the rental space. This was the first instance there was a time crunch, and I was the one calling the shots! So I really prepared myself with a detailed shot list and reviewed each scene with Dan and Taylor repeatedly. It was more work in pre-production but way better overall for the shoot day. We all knew beat for beat what we needed and worked out logistically how we would capture each shot. Usually, there's more wiggle room on shoot days to experiment or take a shot ten plus times, but in this video, I felt like I kept screaming, "Next shot!" Haha, it was nonstop for 8 hours. I was very anxious before starting the day, but while we were in it, I had no choice but to assume the role and came away feeling very confident. You don't know you're capable of something until you try!
PJ: When working on "Love Again," I promised myself with this project to have more female/female-identifying collaborators because we are truly underrepresented in the music industry. Can you talk a bit about your experience as a female music video director? What are some of the challenges you have faced, and how have you overcome those obstacles?
MR: So far, the majority of the projects I have worked on have been for friends, people who already know and trust me. There has only been one instance when I got together with a new artist whose director I thought maybe had reservations about my ability as a woman. He was really unwilling at first to give me, the choreographer, any kind of voice. He had the attitude of "You'll show up and make some dancing happen." I was like, "Sure, but what part of the song, what's the story, how should the movement develop throughout?" And he didn't have an answer! So we ended up storyboarding together and conceptualizing the video. But it was a really arduous process because I had to keep defending myself and justifying my skill sets. That's never a fun position to be in, but I've learned that if you are confident and have helpful, creative input, people will acknowledge and respect you.
PJ: What would be your advice for someone who wants to pursue a creative career like you?
MR: Just make stuff! Make stuff for yourself, for friends, for no purpose at all. My first few music videos came about because I had shared a silly claymation that I made for fun. Old friends and past coworkers who are artists reached out to me. From there, the ball started rolling. It took me a little while to confidently call myself a choreographer, or an animator, and more recently a director, but once I did, people would be like, "Oh sick, I want to make a video and was thinking dancing would be cool, are you free next month?" For me, and I think for most creatives, recognition and "success" is a long game. You've got to invest time and energy. Even while working other odd jobs, this was always the thing I wanted to be doing. There is no plan B!
PJ: Last but not least, I have a question that was asked by some of my followers. Do you think the party people turned back into mannequins when the shoot was over, or in your mind, are they still dancing in that backyard in Brooklyn?
MR: Ah, very interesting! To me, they were never actually mannequins at all. It was more a metaphor for "fake friends" or like "a stiff personality", haha. I imagine that your positive energy freed them from these subconscious ideals of perfection! But that idea of turning back into mannequins now makes me think of a mall full of mannequins where they come alive at night to dance then turn back in the morning. Ha, let's do that next!
Written by Petra Jarrar