Mehdi Meigani (born May 23, 1955) is an Iranian writer, director film producer, actor, and master puppeteer. He is the recipient of many awards, recognitions both nationally and internationally.
Raised and educated in Tehran, Iran, Mehdi Meigani graduated in acting for theater at the Dramatic Arts Faculty of Tehran (DAFT). His dramatic play The Last Curtain, which he wrote and directed, received the award for the best original play of 1980 by the Ministry of Culture of Iran. Throughout his early career, Meigani was more involved in television shows and movies for children. In Iran in 1989, Mehdi Meigani introduced a new fiberglass technique in puppet and set décor building, which was later used in feature films and theaters on the national level. After having established himself in the art of filmmaking and puppetry, Meigani founded his own college in Tehran in 1993, the Arts College of Puppetry in Vali Asr Tehran, dedicated to teaching his students the art of puppetry, acting, and puppet and set décor building. In 1994, following his migration to the United States he is renowned for his television series Hi Kids (Salam Bacheha), a 96-episode puppet show, which was produced in the United States for the Iranian children in North America. He then proposed projects to the United Nations and UNICEF for Children around the world. With the encouragement of Unicef, he traveled to Afghanistan in 2004 and visited Afghan Orphanage centers. He was so moved with the children in the war-affected areas that he decided to travel again to Afghanistan with many of his puppets and many gifts of the children. He established Kids.Future.World, a nonprofit organization focusing on helping orphans in Afghanistan with the encouragement of UNICEF.
His travel to Afghanistan and his love for poetry and his years of studying self-knowledge led him to look for Maulana Jalal e Din Balkhi (RUMI) school in the city of Balkh.
His love for Rumi led him to discover the historic place of Maulana Jalale Din Balkhi Rumi. He then established "Maulana House" a non-profit Rumi foundation dedicated to research and education about Maulana Jalal e Din's poetry and life. He expanded his research tremendously and passionately studying Rumi's life and Shams E Tabrizi.
He introduced Shams E Tabrizi's school to UNESCO and assisted to be registered as an official lank mark in Tabriz.
He has produced more than 250 Television series, He has produced and acted in a number of movies,TV programs, produced independent documentaries and created his own RUMI TELEVISION show.
Since 2008, Mehdi has been working on writing his Rumi Book and stage play and movie production about RUMI & SHAMS.