CURRICULUM VITAE
HARRIET MEIER

Writer/Producer for Film and TV, Audio DescriberITrainer, Journalist,
Editor/Sub-Editor, Published Author
June 2017

Harriet has worked professionally as a writer/prooucer in ?lm and TV for close on 40
years. Born and raised in Windhoek, Namibia, Harriet grew up in a film and radio
environment, being involved with productions for German radio, film and television
networks from a very early age. After getting a first class matric at the Holy Cross
Convent in Windhoek, she joined the SABC in Johannesburg to work in computers
and planning just before the launch of television, and then as production secretary in
the drama department.

During this time she earned extra money as a freelance entertainmentjournalist,
doing articles for various magazines and newspapers while studying part time for a
BA degree in Communication through Unisa and training as an actor at the
Johannesburg Academy of Acting. She left the SABC to work for a radio production
house, where she learnt the specialised skill of performance writing for audio media.
During this period, Harriet contributed to many Springbok radio productions as a
writer, presenter and actor, while also acting in theatre productions, ?lms and TV
series. She was also one of the original team who launched the translation and
dubbing department of the SABC.

With her interests turning more to film and television, Harriet went freelance and
gained a thorough knowledge of the ?behind the scenes? aspects of the industry by
working in as many different positions as possible. These included everything from
continuity to props, from make-up to special effects, from camera to sound and
lighting, and from writing to editing, directing and finally producing.

She started DYNAMOTION, a scriptwriting company, with the late Robert Cheetham
in 1988, and worked with Creative Media international, a film and TV production
house, as Creative Director/Producer for many years before freelancing again.

She won the IDEM Award for Best Television Drama Scriptwriting in 1989, and
ARTES AWARD and STAR TV AWARD nominations in 1991/2. Her
work as head story liner on ?Muvhango? was nominated for a SAFTA AWARD in
2007, and the WGSA Magazine which she curated and edited for the Writers? Guild
of South Africa was honoured with the bronze PRISM AWARD for best PR
Publication in 2013. Her local comedy feature (Writer/Production Manager)
was nominated for the AA LifeNita Film Award and her screenplay ?Earth Watch"
was a finalist in the 2003 Spec Scriptacular, an international screenwriting


Harriet Meier CV

competition. As an author, "The Bushmaster", a novel based on the award-winning
TV series, was published in South Africa in 1990.

In 2012, Harriet added to her skills set by learning to do audio description for film and
television, a process which makes entertainment accessible to persons who are
visually challenged. She was trained by the acclaimed Dr Joel Snyder of Audio
Description Associates, LLC, in the USA, and now also trains local audio describers
and produces audio description in multiple languages for various broadcasters and
producers.

Harriet was elected chairperson of the Writers? Guild of SA in April 2013, after
serving two years as the Guild?s Treasurer. She also chaired SASFED, the South
African Screen Federation, from 2014 to 2016, and is very active in growing the local
film and TV industry and bringing accessibility media to SA and Africa as a whole.

Among Harriet?s latest writing work is the award winning SABC TV drama series
"End Game", where she did story lining and wrote episodes, as well as the SABC2
telenovela "Keeping Score", which is presently on air. She also story lined the TV
series "Sticks and Stones" for Fireworx Media, and produced audio description for
the series for SABC. She is presently head writer on a TV mini-series called "The
Dahomey Warriors" for ELTV in Nigeria, and as a producer she is raising finance for
a feature film called "Looking for Love". She is also co-producing a new format
television series called Safari? - which she created with a broadcaster in
Canada while continuing her writer training and mentorship programmes with WGSA
and serving as a director for the writer collaborative The Pack.

Harriet is 100% proficient in English, Afrikaans and German, and speaks a
smattering of French, isiZulu and SeSotho.


Harriet Meier CV