Biography

Vanessa holds an MFA in Film and Media production from the University of Texas at Austin and also taught at UT, where her class, Filmmaking to Decolonize, was named one of the top reasons to attend UT’s film program by The Hollywood Reporter. Prior to working in film, Vanessa worked in international development in Guatemala, New York, and Thailand, for organizations focused on preserving culture and providing economic opportunities for women. In 2019 she was part of a U.S. State Department delegation to Pakistan, where she presented her film work. An advocate for inclusive classrooms and industry practices, she spoke at SXSW in 2022 on diversifying the pipeline into the film industry.

Her directing work in narrative and documentary has screened at Austin Film Festival, SXSW, and other festivals worldwide. She has produced for PBS, PBS Digital, and the Discovery Channel, and developed multiple projects as the Supervising Producer at the Austin production company Go-Valley, which won an Emmy for the 2016 animated documentary TOWER.