By Emily-Rose Toohey
Warren Meneely was born and raised in Warwick, and after a long and successful career overseas as a music video editor, he set his sights on returning home.
But before his most mainstream industry success during the late 80s and throughout the 90s, Warren was just a small-town kid with a dream.
“You’ve got to pay your dues and make your way up,” he said.
As a teenager attending Warwick State High School, Warren developed a passion for music and said he first wanted to be an engineer in a recording studio (also known as a record producer).
“I played in bands on the guitar from when I was 14, and my first job was at a television station, where I learnt a lot,” Warren said.
After leaving Warwick behind for Melbourne to pursue his dreams in 1981, Warren said he sent his CV to potential employers in London in advance, months before leaving behind Australia’s familiar shores in 1987.
“I was one of those Australians who left with a backpack and a dream – I went knocking on doors to get a job and got lucky,” Warren explained.
“Networking is so important.”
In what he describes as good timing, Warren landed a job as a junior editor in music video production for Carlton Television.
“Sometimes a little bit of luck is needed,” he said of his first big gig.
During his stint at the company, he helped cut together videos for Lauren Hill, Sinéad O’Connor, George Michael, Mary J Bligh, Annie Lennox, Duran Duran, and Kylie Minogue, to name few.
The job of an editor is incredibly important in creating visual media, and Warren said it’s about understanding how to tell a story.
“It’s about creating feeling and emotion, timing and rhythm, and light and shade,” he said of the editing process.
“I try and make the artist look good, and when it requires it, entails creating a cohesive narrative.”
“Editors can be the unsung heroes and are often underestimated.”
Underestimated indeed: without an editor to condense hours worth of footage into a three minute long video, there would be no video.
It’s often the determining factor that makes something really good, whether it be a music video or a film.
After years of visits back home, Warren came back to Australia at the end of 2019 for an extended length – he stayed in the town when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
During Warren’s return to Australia, he said he’d been working remotely from Sydney.
“Editing’s not a conventional job,” he admitted.
“But it’s been a great opportunity to stay with my Dad, I’ve lived overseas so long and it’s important to have some time with him.”
Although Warwick is far removed from the bustling streets of London, Warren said he feels that he’s always had a strong connection with the town and his Australian friends and family
“I love it – it’s a distinct contrast and as time has gone on with better communication available through the Internet, my job has become easier and I feel less isolated,” he said.
“If there’s one really small positive that’s come out of Covid, it’s how successfully people can work remotely and employers are far more open and accepting of it – people have learned to work in a different way.”
During Warren’s recent time in Warwick, he performed at the local Art Gallery’s Pub Rock exhibition opening in February, and has made the most of his time in his home town.
But for now, Warren has headed back to London for a brief holiday, yet one thing’s for certain: he’ll be back.
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