M egan Griffiths recently directed two episodes of the HBO anthology series “Room 104” and an episode of the Epix comedy “Graves.” Her feature credits include “The Night Stalker,” “Lucky Them,” and “Eden.”

“Sadie” will premiere at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival on March 10.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

MG: “Sadie” is the story of a 13-year-old girl who lives at Shady Plains Trailer Park with her mother while her father serves repeated tours in the military. Her dad has broken many promises that he will return, but Sadie idolizes him, and believes in his cause, so she waits.

When Sadie sees a relationship developing between her mom and a new man that has moved in next door, she pledges to come between them to preserve her dad’s place on the home-front — whatever it takes.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

MG: With “Sadie,” I tried to infuse humor and humanity into a cautionary tale about violence that I hope will contribute to a larger societal conversation. We’ve spent a lot of time as a culture trying to reckon with the effects of the intense exposure to violence faced by soldiers, but what about the effects of similar exposure on those at home?

How does this steady diet of violence — from the real-world carnage of war, mass shootings, and police brutality, to the fictional, often cartoonish bloodshed filling our screens — impact those coming of age in this era? I wanted to create a war film where the soldier was a 13-year-old girl and the battlefield was the trailer park where she lived.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

MG: I hope people will think about this young girl, and how her experience might reverberate with others coming of age in this era, and ultimately our responsibility as adults to show up for these kids, and teach them the right lessons.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

MG: There is a very well-established myth that adults are not interested in stories about kids, and that audiences in general are less interested in stories about women and girls. This has been disproved again and again, but its persistence made it a real challenge to pull together the film’s financing. Actors were very drawn to the material — as is evidenced by our incredible cast — but it was still an eight year process to get the film into production.

I owe a lot to my producers Lacey Leavitt — who has been on board the project since its inception, and, like me, refused to take “no” for an answer — and Jennessa West, who joined in late 2016, and helped push the boulder those vital last few feet to finally get it rolling down the other side of the mountain.

Getting movies made is so hard, and good partners are critical.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

MG: We were incredibly fortunate to find an executive producer, Eliza Shelden, who understood this story, believed in me as a filmmaker, and was able to serve as the film’s sole financier.

I can’t tell you how vital it felt to this story to have so many women behind the scenes, and how empowering it feels to be able to come together to challenge the existing paradigms of what films are considered “bankable,” and what stories are considered worthy, and I’m so grateful to Eliza for her powerful support of this project.

W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at SXSW?

MG: I have attended SXSW eight times in the past ten years. It is one of my favorite film festivals due to its laid-back vibe, stellar programming, and ability to connect its filmmakers with consistently thoughtful and receptive audiences.

I brought my film “Eden” to SXSW in 2012, and we were awarded with the Audience Award, and what was then the Chicken & Egg Award for Emerging Female Director, and a special jury mention for our leading lady, Jamie Chung. It was a game-changing year for me as a filmmaker, and a beautiful experience all around.

“Sadie” is an incredibly important film to me, and one that I have spent the better part of a decade bringing to the screen. Knowing that it will have its premiere in competition at SXSW is very meaningful, and I can’t wait to share it with the audiences there.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

MG: The best advice I’ve ever received is to do the work to understand yourself as a person, and as a filmmaker — every film is personal and the more you understand what you bring to the table, the more you can infuse it in your work to create films that could only come from you.

The worst advice was probably that I should wait for a studio film to come to me after “Eden.” Don’t get me wrong — I would love to make a film with those kinds of resources that would reach the wide audiences that studio projects are able to reach but if I’d waited for that I might still be waiting, especially given the still abysmal statistics around women’s opportunities to direct studio films.

Instead, in the ensuing six years I’ve directed three other beautiful features, and some great television, grown immeasurably as a filmmaker, and have remained actively engaged in my own trajectory, telling stories I’m really proud of. And I’m now more ready than ever to step up and own that next opportunity, wherever it comes from.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

MG: I’ll echo the words of Ava DuVernay and just say “do the work.” Don’t wait for others — just find a way, and do the work, hone your craft, tell stories you are passionate about, push them into the world with all you’ve got, and make yourself undeniable.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

MG: It’s ridiculously challenging to narrow it down to only one, but I will go with “Ratcatcher” by Lynne Ramsay. Everything Ramsay makes is so confident, and so visceral, but this film specifically stands out for me for the impressionistic way it captures the confusion and loneliness of its subject. The visuals are stunning, it’s brutal and heartbreaking but then has these unexpected moments of humor. It’s just a breathtaking film.

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women — and some men — in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?

MG: I believe it’s a long overdue conversation — one that women have been having for years, and one that I’m thrilled men are finally beginning to engage in. It’s well past time to challenge the power imbalance in our industry. The world needs inclusivity right now. We need diverse stories and the empathy that those stories bring to our hearts, and we need it urgently.