About Me
Documentary filmmaker, photographer, and podcaster
Austin Meyer is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and photographer based in Oakland, California. His work has been featured by HBO, Hulu, Apple TV, The New York Times, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, PBS, Al Jazeera, and Slate among others. He has worked with brands such as The North Face, Stanford University, and Google.
Meyer is also the host of The Austin Meyer Podcast, a show in which he interviews the world’s best documentary filmmakers about how they craft the stories they tell.
Meyer graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. degree in creative writing and an M.A. degree in journalism. After graduation, he was selected as the winner of the New York Times’ International Reporting Trip with Nicholas Kristof competition, for which he reported for the New York Times in Baltimore, India, and Nepal.
Meyer has worked as a videographer at the Los Angeles Times and was awarded an IDEO storytelling fellowship, during which, he reported for Roads & Kingdoms and Slate on the social and environmental impacts of hydropower dams along the Mekong River in Southeast Asia.
Meyer is a National Geographic Explorer and received grant funding from the National Geographic Society to create a documentary film on infant and maternal healthcare in Zambia. That film was released by the United Nations Population Fund and Vox Media’s Seeker Indie film showcase.
Meyer’s self-defined purpose as a documentarian is to tell stories that change the way people walk through the world by inspiring curiosity, wonder, and empathy. He is passionate about covering the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and the planet, and telling stories that move people to act.
Beyond the camera, Meyer played on Stanford University’s varsity men’s soccer team and now spends his time outside of documentary work running in the mountains as a competitive ultrarunner. He is cofounder of a creative consultancy called Collective Capital, for which he teaches the art of storytelling and applied improvisation to businesses and schools around the world.
Awards and Grants
- 2023 Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit Featured Speaker
- 2023 Zion 100km Ultramarathon Champion
- 2021 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow
- 2020 Missouri Photo Workshop Participant
- 2019 UNLEASH Innovation Lab Talent
- 2018 National Geographic Explorer Grant Recipient
- 2017 IDEO Storytelling Fellow
- 2015 New York Times International Reporting Trip with Nicholas Kristof Competition Winner