Meral Tan is a filmmaker and graduate of Carleton University’s Film Studies MA program. She joined the DARC team last year as an intern in the education team, and currently works as our Community Access and Education Coordinator.
Meral first discovered DARC at the 2022 Arts Court Open House event, where she learned about the resources and opportunities available to artists. “Prices were so affordable and everyone was so supportive, I decided to become a member.”
She met with Ludmylla, DARC’s former Community and Organizational Partnerships Coordinator, to discuss grant opportunities for early-career filmmakers. Meral received the City of Ottawa’s Equity and Inclusion in the Arts grant, as well as their Seed Award, to develop her first short film.
The film, “Work in Progress”, follows the story of a writer who struggles to write. Meral wrote the project and co-created it with her husband, Pablo, drawing on DARC’s resources. “I have received a lot of support from DARC during the process. I rented all my equipment from here.”
Meral also attended DARC workshops to broaden her creative and technical skills, including sound recording, cinematography, and video editing. “The workshops I took were super helpful, especially the video editing one, because I was such a beginner.”
During post-production, Meral ran into some challenges regarding sound editing. She mentioned the problem to Deighan, DARC’s Education Manager, who then offered a helping hand. “Deighan was so helpful and supportive, and they took over the sound editing role for us.”
“I think I have grown a lot in my artistic journey … I have developed my skills from the workshops that I have taken so far, but I think the biggest support for me is to know there are people that I can work with, who can help me.”
