Megan Raney Aarons

EP / Co-Founder at GRAiNEY PICTURES
Director, Screenwriter and Producer

Venice Beach, Los Angeles County, California

Member Since:
February 2024

Last online:
> 2 weeks ago

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About Megan

Megan is an award winning filmmaker dedicated to telling stories that matter. With a long track record in unscripted, Megan most recently produced acclaimed feature doc, UNZIPPED: An Autopsy of American Inequality, about the affordable housing crisis (Waterbear / Amazon - Newport Beach audience award winner). Other documentary credits include writing / directing Colorblind Artist; In Full Color about Daniel Arsham (Semaine); producing Being Canadian (eOne - WGA nom) & ATARI: Game Over (Netflix); executive producing Godfather Of Pittsburgh (A&E); writing / producing Redlight (Showtime) & cinematography for award-winning feature doc, Freedom’s Fury (Fortissimo / HBO - Esquire’s 20 Greatest Sports Docs of All Time list).

As a narrative writer / director, Megan has helmed comedic series work for Amazon - Kat (Soul Pancake) & 2x seasons of in-world episodic for The Lake (Amaze Film & TV). She was also a writer / director / showrunner for ID / Discovery true crime hybrid pilot, I Am Jane Doe; her co-written screenplay, Cages, was a Screencraft & Pipeline finalist (Blacklist); her latest short film, Demolition, an existential take on mental health & influencer culture, is now at festivals & she’s currently packaging her narrative directorial debut, Perdita, a socially charged neo-noir paranormal thriller set in Detroit MI.

With a 7th award winning feature doc now released in 36 countries, years of cross platform content creation for streamers, networks & Fortune 500 brands (winning Clios, Golden Lion, Webbys, Anthems), over 18 festival nods, a Congressional screening, Knighted by the Hungarian Government (The Sibs alongside filmmaking partners, Lucy Liu & Quentin Tarantino) & named a Legendary Woman Artist of Venice, Megan is now building a slate of narrative film & TV properties in tandem with GRAiNEY PICTURES Canada.

Other credits include: selected for S4 Handmaids Tale directors initiative; writing/directing/EP’ing DNC & Women’s March promos, PSAs for UNICEF & Action Against Hunger; directing campaigns featuring Kristen Bell (This Bar Saves Lives), Julianne Hough (Speak Endo), Marcus Scribner (OnePlus), Halsey & Friends With You (Verizon / iPhone), Yvonne Orji, Sincerely Jules, Tracy Anderson (Esteé Lauder), Misty Copeland (Dr Pepper), Coach Pete Carroll (IMAX / Subway); covering the 2005 Palestinian elections for Israeli/Palestinian One Voice; co-writing / directing short narrative film Meena (PBS) with Lucy Liu; speaking at the Attorney General’s conference on Human Trafficking (Seattle 2012); and directing / EP’ing work for many others including Google, Vogue & action sports series Clean Break (Fuel TV/ Sony).

Coming up as a cinematographer and editor, Megan is a people person & team builder who inherently knows the craft. A triple citizen (Canadian / UK / US), with a BA from the University of London, she co-founded award-winning content creation studio, GRAiNEY PICTURES, with her brother & filmmaking compadre, Colin K. Gray. The company also creates premium documentary work for motion pictures & hit shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Walking Dead & Better Call Saul. Whether she’s lead creative or producing, Megan’s varied background coupled with her Groundlings training & occasional forays into stand-up, bring a unique joy & collaborative dynamism to every job she tackles. Megan lives in Venice Beach with her family.

Unique traits: Megan mashes true life realism with a dark & magical wit - plot twisting her narrative trademark. Starting her career as a director of photography, and as a past life editor, Megan leads with evocative visuals. Her commitment to nuanced performance, character development, creative eye for detail & design, grace under fire & overall dedication to the craft, make her a dynamic leader & freckle faced force. Leaning into her doc roots, Groundlings training & occasional forays into stand-up, Megan brings this unique cocktail to her narrative work, and frankly every single job she tackles. She truly thrives on our collaborative art form.

Gender:
Female

Height:
6' 1"

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Loglines

CAGES Budget: $5M - $10M | Thriller After being forcefully separated from her daughter at the southern border & sucked into a bizarre horse breeding ring, a young Guatemalan mother is in the fight of her life to reclaim the one person she can’t live without. As the noose tightens, an old world curse begins haunting anyone who tries to thwart the power of this K’iche’ Mayan mother & daughter.
Demolition Budget: $0 - $100K | Thriller When a lonely influencer is accused of being a fake, she spirals into a twisted existential crisis. Introducing Lacey Claire Rogers as Sloan, and featuring Stephen Park (of Asteroid City, The French Dispatch, Fargo, Do the Right Thing). A film by Megan Raney Aarons.
PERDITA Budget: $1M - $5M | Thriller A rootless loner who’s afraid of the dark, inherits a derelict house in an abandoned Detroit neighborhood, confronting forces who want her to see she’s not alone. A neo-noir paranormal detective thriller.
ICE ON MARS Budget: $1M - $5M | Drama Circa late 80s, a 9yo British girl strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Medieval Times stunt rider after moving to Canada with her recently divorced mother who’s in hot pursuit of her new First Nation beau.