Ruth Meehan
Ruth Meehan is an award-winning writer and director who’s been working in film and television across Ireland and the UK since the early 2000s. She has an MA in Screenwriting from the NFTS in London, where her short film Numb was awarded a special commendation at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Ruth is drawn to character-driven stories that strike an emotional chord—whether they’re funny, dramatic, or ideally a mix of both. Whether she’s writing or directing, her work aims to entertain, move and inspire. Her background in documentary has shaped a fluid, instinctive style, with a strong sense of story, a collaborative mindset, and a keen eye for what’s alive in the moment.
Her first post-college short, And The Red Man Went Green for Universal Studios, picked up several international awards, including the Prix Canal+ at Brest, the Depict Award at Encounters (UK), the Kodak Prize at Raindance, and the Special Jury Prize at the Tehran Film Festival. Other highlights include Lilou, which won a Judges Award at the Galway Film Fleadh, and Men And Women, an adaptation of a Claire Keegan short story, which screened at the Galway Film Festival and on RTÉ Shortscreen.
Her debut feature The Bright Side (2020) won the Audience Award at the Cork International Film Festival, and had a wide international festival run, winning Best English Language Feature at Sonoma (2021), and the Grand Logis Prix du Public in Rennes (2022). It’s now streaming on Amazon Prime and has been released internationally via Paramount+ and Rialto.
Ruth cut her teeth in TV directing with the Virgin Media crime drama Red Rock, and more recently worked on Lionsgate’s Northern Lights. She’s currently adapting Kathleen MacMahon’s novel, Nothing But Blue Sky with support from Screen Ireland.
She’s also a committed mentor and educator—Vice Chair of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland, and a member of the Writers Guild of Ireland and Women in Film and TV. She co-founded Aligning With Flow, a Screen Ireland-supported programme offering creative retreats and workshops. Ruth regularly lectures at The Lir Academy, IADT, Bow Street in Dublin, at ATU Galway & Sligo, and Queen’s University Belfast. She also mentors emerging talent through the Stowe Story Lab both in Ireland and online.
