Megan Riakos

Megan is a screenwriter and director with 18 years experience in the industry, culminating in her debut feature Crushed. Crushed received great reviews with The Australian newspaper calling Crushed “a tense, bloody mystery thriller”, Dread Central noting its “beautiful cinematography and exceptional performances” while The Hollywood Reporter labelled it as “A solid debut”. Megan has also directed commercial spots in a range of styles including the Basic Instinct spoof ad for GPY&R’s Close the Gap, the PSA Blue Bird for depression and Garlo’s Pies When Hunger Strikes as well as over a dozen short films in a range of genres, including crime drama 50-50, psychological horror The Shed and music documentary Making Tracks. Megan brings a strong visual style to her work and excels in nurturing her actors to bring authentic performances to the screen. Megan’s screenplays have also garnered acclaim. Her mystery period feature The Last Reprieve was awarded the Grand Prize in the Greater Philadelphia SIP Screenplay competition and her political drama Victory And Defeat made the semi-finals in the Final Draft Big Break Competition and was shortlisted for the Nate Wilson Award at UCLA .Megan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Media Arts & Production) at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), has a Graduate Diploma in Directing at the prestigious Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and has also completed the Professional Screenwriters Program at UCLA. Megan is a vocal advocate for women in the screen industries, she is the president of WIFT NSW (Women in Film & Television), founding director of WIFT Australia and founder of Raising Films Australia, she is also an active member of the Sydney chapter of Film Fatales, a global female feature film directors’ collective.Megan is a dual citizen of Australia and United States of America and splits her time between the two countries.