You Either Win Or You Learn: Gabriel Gaurano On His Short Film "Team Meryland"
Director/Editor/DP Gabriel Gaurano is a filmmaker who creates character-driven documentaries and is passionate about capturing real stories filled with family and heart. His work has screened and garnered awards at festivals like AFI, Palm Springs International Shorts Fest, and many more. His latest documentary short, Team Meryland, follows a young girl's miraculous journey as she fights to become the Junior Olympics champion.
Born and raised in the Watts projects of Los Angeles, twelve-year-old female boxer, Meryland Gonzalez fights in-and-out of the ring attempting to be crowned the 2019 Junior Olympics Champion.
This inspirational story already screened at many prestigious film festivals including the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and Cleveland International Film Festival where it won the FilmSlam Best Short Award. We had the pleasure of chatting with Gabriel about. the film, its origins, sculpting its narrative, organizing footage and much much more!
How did you first hear of Meryland’s story?
I heard about Meryland’s story in the summer of 2018. I was shooting a very run-and-gun short film with a group of my friends in Watts when I randomly crossed paths with Jorge. He happen to be driving by the Watts Towers where we were filming and noticed us, so he decided to walk up and ask if any of us wanted to make a video about his daughter Meryland. I ended up chatting with him and we stayed in touch over Instagram. I then setup a phone call with Meryland and immediately gravitated towards her bright optimism. Then, when I returned to Los Angeles in August 2018 for my Sophomore year of college, I began filming her.
You were following around Meryland and her family for a very long time. Did it take some time for them to warm up to your camera, or did things fall into place right away?
I followed Meryland and her family for about a year and a half. Warming up to the family was actually a very smooth process. Right before I started filming, Meryland and her family had just got off a shoot for ESPN where she was followed around by handful of grown adults with lights, boom poles, and a couple cameras. I think this made them feel comfortable in front of the cameras because they built up a tolerance. So I showed up, looking like a somewhat thin and not very intimidating teenager shooting solo on just one camera, it almost immediately felt normal. That being said, I was very intentional about not disturbing their natural flow as a family – I didn’t use any lights or lavs, I didn’t ask them to do any actions or say any lines, and I stayed extremely quiet when filming aside from occasional questions when appropriate. I also spent a lot of quality time with the family even without the camera, and we got a lot closer as a result of that. My goal was to capture this family as if I was never there. In that sense, things fell into place quite nicely while shooting.
For such a little girl, Meryland is so infectiously warm and inspiring. What was one thing you learned from her through the making of this film?
She absolutely is! I learned so much – so much that I know that I’ll continue absorbing new lessons from this documentary years from now. One special thing I learned from Meryland is that she is extremely grateful. She appreciates every moment and experience as if it were a miracle. And as a result, she seems to describe life like it’s abundant with beauty, love, and positivity. I feel like this perspective alone created a positive feedback loop, bringing her so many good experiences in return. I became so inspired and exposed to this mentality while shooting/editing, that I noticed the vocabulary I used emulated hers. Ultimately, Meryland heavily inspired me in that way and now I’ve implemented gratitude in my daily routine.
There must have been loads of footage to sift through. Do you have a process for organizing this material to prepare for the edit?
Organization is a huge step in the editing process because when inspiration strikes you need to have the ability to attend to it. I didn’t want to gamble on my energy and possible short bursts of “aha- moments” to finding lost footage. Just to name a few things, my team and I documented every shooting day by themes and events, consolidated all media into folders/bins, and transcribed every formal/informal interview. Breaking down each shooting day by events, themes, and potential story notes helped a ton because it allowed us to make a paper-edit or outline of the documentary before cutting.
Speaking of editing, there’s a lovely ebb and flow to the film’s story and pacing. A lot of the choices you make maximize the tension and emotions of Meryland’s story. What was your process for shaping and sculpting the film’s emotional narrative?
I worked closely with Julia Elihu (producer) and Jason Phillips (co-producer) to help tell this story as effectively as possible. I worked with them because they’re my close friends and also two of the most talented storytellers/screenwriters I know. I read in a book that documentaries, although real, are still movies and need to be treated as such. So we stuck to that mentality and talked about the film as if it were a screenplay. We talked at lengths about story notes we wanted to hit, soundbites we thought were significant, and ultimately how we should structure this film. We challenged ourselves to balance the film between highs and lows, which is why we sprinkled the medical story throughout instead of backloading it all at once. We knew this story was special, so we wanted to do our part in making it well told.
What drew you to the visual arts? How did you get into directing?
I was drawn to visual arts because of my family. I grew up the youngest of seven kids and some of my favorite memories were when we made childhood action films together. Filming was an activity I loved and continued doing with my friends, classmates, and even by myself with my mom’s laptop camera. I just remember making movies or filming something quite often. It wasn’t until my Sophomore year of high school that I transitioned into making more films dealing with themes I was processing or had experienced. Today, I tend to lean into stories that deal with resilient people and families because of my experiences growing up as the youngest of seven kids with a single mom.
What films or filmmakers have inspired you, your style, or your approach to telling a story?
I am very inspired by filmmakers like Barry Jenkins, Destin Cretton, and Ryan Coogler (just to name a few) because of their style and personalities. I feel like they are compassionate, humble, and kind people who demonstrate a strong sense of voice and creative faith. I admire that they are people who won’t only be remembered by their work, but by the examples they set as good people. My favorite films by them tell stories in a very human way, often using vérité techniques to get to the heart of a character.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I hope audiences can walk away feeling inspired to see the world as if it wants the best for them. Meryland and her family have been through a lot, but it is through working together and resilient perspective that they’ve pushed through it all. In fact, they see every challenge as a learning experience. Like Meryland says about boxing, “you either win or you learn.” This mentality is what can make your dreams come true.
Do you have any future projects in the works that you can share with us?
I’d love to share that Team Meryland will be broadcasted by PBS in January 2022 and distributed by The New Yorker this September 15th! I’m working more in the branded documentary world and hope to incorporate similar grounded themes of resilience into commercial work.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!