JoT001: Miya RUANE
“Trust yourself and your vision. Rules are stupid so break them whenever you please and without apology. ”
Miya Ruane: @miyaruane
MIYA RUANE, 20
Paris, France
Miya’s Web Portfolio
Currently a recent graduate from Istituto Marangoni Paris, majoring in Creative Direction and based in Paris, Miya Ruane is navigating through the film industry as a director and writer. Miya founded @theboysclubfilms in 2023 - a female film collective and is currently working on her debut short film 'SCUM' alongside brilliant young women creatives. Please stay tuned for its release in 2025!
In entry #001, Miya Ruane offers her unfiltered opinions and thoughts on women in the film industry, as well as valuable advice to our readers.
Q1. What inspired you to become a film director, and were there any specific influences or moments that shaped your decision?
When I was quite young I would spend all my time watching and rewatching my favorite movies. I was obsessed with the idea of magic and it felt so magical to be completely enthralled in a film. This joy for watching movies instilled in me the deep knowing that I would someday end up making my own, even if my path since has been less than linear.
Q2. Can you describe your creative process? How do you develop your ideas from concept to final film?
Ideas tend to find their ways into my head at the most bizarre moments. I will notice something around me that triggers a sudden concept to form seemingly out of nowhere. Lot’s of these ideas are pretty bad, but every once and a while one sticks with me and I can’t get it out of my mind. From there the pieces tend to fall into place naturally. I like to let myself marinate in the conceptual stage for quite some time, taking notes and allowing more environmental factors to trigger thoughts. Eventually there is nothing left to do but begin to write.
As I do so more and more details spring into clarity and then I usually have a draft within the first session. Once I start writing I find it incredibly difficult to stop. When the time comes to move from the story to the actualization I tend to know exactly what I want in terms of the film itself. My mind works in a very visual manner so as I work on the narrative I subconsciously make decisions about the cinematography, music, etc.
Q3. How do you approach storytelling, and are there themes or perspectives you feel are particularly important to explore as a female director?
There should never be any limits on storytelling. If you can imagine it then it is likely worthy of being told. It is all about knowing your own taste and what excites you. As for women in the industry - It is my strongest belief that we should be able to explore whatever themes we want. There can be a lot of pressure to make explicitly feminist statements or stick to society’s imagined confines on the idea of the female gaze. In my mind the most revolutionary thing a woman can do is exactly what she wants without succumbing to external influences.
Q4. How important is representation of women, both in front of and behind the camera, and what impact do you think it has on the audience?
I do firmly believe representation for women is super important; not only having them represented, but properly so. There are endless women depicted on screen, but it is still somewhat rare to see one uninfluenced by the male gaze. This being said I feel that the push for representation on and off the screen goes hand in hand. The more women we have behind the camera the more female characters we will see being represented through a woman's perspective.
Q5. What stories or voices do you feel are still underrepresented in the film industry, and how do you aim to bring them to the forefront?
In my mind all voices that are not currently given the opportunity to create are underrepresented simply because each individual human has a unique perspective. Of course from my experience I would love to see more women in the industry, but I know there are so many amazing creatives out there in many different “categories of human” who have incredible stories to tell. I simply wish for equal opportunity for all those who put in the work and have fresh perspectives to share.
Q6. One real advice from you to young women aspiring to enter the film industry.
This advice may be incredibly unwarranted considering I myself am a young woman aspiring to enter the film industry, however from what I have learned so far the most important thing is to back yourself. I believe success only comes to those who are crazy enough to know without a shadow of a doubt that they will achieve it. Arrogance and ungodly amounts of confidence come with many (valid) negative connotations, however I find them to be my greatest strengths. As long as you remain grounded and humble internally, exuding such arrogance is often the only tool a woman can use to be heard. Trust yourself and your vision. Rules are stupid so break them whenever you please and without apology.
Q7. What role do you believe independent filmmaking plays in providing opportunities for female directors, compared to major studio productions?
Since I have not yet had the opportunity to work on major studio productions I can only speak on independent filmmaking (and I hope to be able to say that for as long as humanly possible). Indie film is where unbridled creativity flourishes. I love not having to answer to anyone but myself and my crew when making decisions. Of course it can be incredibly difficult trying to make your own film without the support of a studio, but I would argue there are different yet equal struggles that come with major productions. As long as you are prepared for your resolve to be repeatedly tested then I believe all directors, female and otherwise, should pursue independent filmmaking as a priority.
Q8. An unfiltered thought you have about the film industry?
Films themselves: Amazing, stunning, life-changing, magical, gorgeous!!!
The film industry: Oh the horrors.
In all seriousness I have not yet broken in myself, but have rather created my own space to do what I love, which has been such a beautiful experience and has allowed me to meet so many amazingly talented women. So if that is the film industry I continue to exist in then it is a pretty special place to be. No complaints here!
Q9. Your opinion about ‘cancel culture’ and how it has affected the film industry and screenwriting.
I believe cancel culture to be one of the most ridiculous movements to emerge from my generation. As juvenile as this response may come off, I think everyone simply needs to be respectful of one another and take a collective chill pill. The constant fear of being “canceled” is something that severely inhibits creative expression. I feel that we have a complete lack of nuance these days and should restrict the severity of our reactions to issues that truly warrant it. The sentiment of checking and educating one another to create a better world is an incredibly valuable one, but I feel that recent cancel culture has spiraled out of control, and the manner in which we handle such issues must be reexamined.
Oftentimes the collective reaction does more harm than the initial action itself. Within the film and television industry I have noticed that writers constantly seem to be dancing on thin ice. There is this insane pressure to be so politically correct that we come out with watered down depictions of contemporary life that may not offend anyone, but surely do not depict other facets of our zeitgeist accurately.
Q10. Are you working on any projects at the moment?
I am currently working on my debut film with my women’s filmmaking collective: The Boys Club. I had first begun to conceptualize the film about two years ago after noticing certain patterns regarding the representation of violent women in cinema. I have always been intrigued by how women reacted to female brutality enacted upon men in film, as I had observed some quite interesting tendencies among my friends. The film, which is titled SCUM, will examine these evolving gender dynamics and call into question how far an audience will go to dismiss or excuse the violent behavior of a female character. To give a little sneak peak: SCUM centers around a young girl who has lived the entirety of her life in a community comprised exclusively of women, which has never felt male influence. Upon the arrival of a new woman, the child begins to see cracks in her utopia as she is forced to relinquish her naivety and face the disturbing truth of life within her coterie. Stay tuned because it comes out in 2025!
