S2, Ep 13 - Megan Riakos Part 1: Curating Multiple Shorts into a Feature Horror Anthology The Short Film Pod

Megan Riakos is a go-getter. A writer, director, producer, advocacy leader, lecturer and all round wonderful woman, Megan continues to bring a distinctive female lens to the world of genre filmmaking. Her debut feature as writer/director/producer of the thriller Crushed received strong reviews with The Australian calling it “a tense, bloody mystery thriller”, and The Hollywood Reporter labelling it “A solid debut.”  

Megan’s next project was Australia’s first horror anthology feature film Dark Whispers – Volume 1 which is why we are chatting to her in this ep. Megan created an incredible opportunity for ten Australian women horror directors by curating their shorts into a feature film anthology, directing a wraparound segment herself to stitch all the segments together. It's such a fantastic example of how your short film could garner a second life (and thousands more eyeballs) despite its age or festival run. Dark Whispers was selected for festivals across the world including at Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in Silicon Valley, Seattle International Film Festival, Berlin Final Girls Film Festival, Cinefest Oz Film Festival in Western Australia and MonsterFest. It has been hailed by Killer Horror Critic as “A shining example of horror anthology film done right…” and Screen Hub calling it “bursting with ideas and energetic visual approaches”. Just because your short has finished premiering doesn't mean it has to sit on the shelf for eternity. 

Website: www.theshortfilmpod.com | Instagram: @theshortfilmpod | Sound Engineer: Lana Kristensen