At the start of 2025, I was offered the opportunity to work on a new television program about long-term missing person cases.
I have been a producer for crime-related television programs for a good number of years and have worked on multiple seasons of a television series that asked for the public’s help to find fugitives and missing children. However, this new program was going to be different.
Hosted by a former Missing Persons Detective, it was designed as an active, investigative series, where each case would be given the time and attention needed to dig deeper and hopefully uncover something new about the case. I was excited about the possibility of working on a television series that could potentially make a real difference.
Everyone involved on the program agreed that we needed the cooperation of family members; otherwise, we would not pursue a case and include it in our series.
One of my responsibilities was to reach out to families, introduce our program and team, and discuss their interest in sharing their story on national television.
From years of working in this genre, I am familiar with the outreach process, and the many ways families, friends, and associates, who have gone through the traumatic loss of a loved one, can react to an initial contact. Their reactions can range from suspicion and doubt, to outright rejection, curiosity, interest, and, at times, gratitude. Any and all of these emotions need to be heard, respected, and addressed.
However, given the particularly delicate nature of this new program, where family and friends continue to live in limbo without answers to the many questions they carry: Where is the missing person? What happened to them? Why has my loved one not been found? I recognized that my outreach might reach people at especially vulnerable moments and give them even more reason to carefully consider our proposal.
I had already become more aware of the effects traumatic events can have on people, and had been looking for ways to further educate myself. That’s when I came across the New York State Office of Mental Health-funded Tending the Roots program. As I read through the course description, I thought this workshop might provide a strong foundation to help prepare me for this new assignment.
My hunch was right. The two-day workshop introduced me to the fundamentals of trauma- informed practices and gave me more confidence in approaching potential contributors for our series. It also helped me better understand the importance of creating a safe environment through patience, transparency, and clear communication so contributors could make informed decisions about whether to participate in our program.
In addition, I realized that the trust we begin to build at the onset of production needs to be carried through until the program is completed and even beyond its broadcast by providing contributors with time, space, and information about each step in the production process.
Learning about trauma-informed practices has also made me a better advocate for our contributors when discussing sensitive details about the various cases with our Executive Producers. It provided me with both the understanding and the language to explain why we might need another conversation with a contributor to ease their concerns, why it may take longer to get answers to some questions that were difficult for them to address, or that it would be best to invite another family member to the interview to make our contributor feel more comfortable and supported.
An added benefit of the workshop was a greater appreciation of the importance of self-care and the need to create moments of recovery for myself. This, in turn, led me to the Breath-Body-Mind (BBM) practices offered by New York State Trauma-Informed Network and Resource Center (TINRC). Although I already had a robust yoga practice that included some breath work, the BBM classes introduced me to a new way of working with the breath, both in movement and stillness.
Learning more about my breath, how it moves inside the body, how dependable and ever- present it is, and how it can serve as a source of focus, meditation, and energy, continues to fascinate me. It remains an ongoing exploration and discovery that soothes, energizes, and grounds me.
Both initiatives, Tending the Roots and Breath-Body-Mind, have been extremely valuable for my professional development as well as my personal well-being.
And so I would like to thank TINRC and the New York State Office of Mental Health for making these programs available and accessible and for creating opportunities for New Yorkers to experience clarity, care, and comfort.
About Tanja
A well-versed producer with an international background, Tanja Meding began her career in the film industry in her native Germany. Following positions with an art-house film distributor and a post-production facility, she was an associate producer for Berlin-based veteran Producer Regina Ziegler for five years during which she collaborated with filmmakers such as Bob Rafelson, Amos Kollek, Jos Stelling, Petr Zelenka and Rosa von Praunheim. In 2003, Tanja moved to New York where she became a documentary producer with Maysles Films. Since 2009, she has contributed to a wide range of television series, specials, and limited programs, including The 93 Victims of Samuel Little, Bad Henry, and Broken Harts as well as multiple seasons of In Pursuit with John Walsh. Tanja is drawn to purpose-driven storytelling, and approaches each project with empathy, integrity, and respect.ess Training is available on the DHSES (link) and OMH (link) Learning Management Systems.