Black is a Director, Photographer and Creative with a passion for authentic storytelling. Black has spent the past decade making films for global brands with a unique specialty in impact filmmaking and sustainability more specifically. Through her personal drive she has collaborated with Al Gore, Jane Goodall, The United Nations, Appian Way, Film45, Shift&, teen activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez along with scores of passion projects including journalism during the 2014 Ukraine Crisis.
Vanessa began her directing career levering her documentary background into the commercial world. Her authenticity and imagination had attracted commercial clients for brand launches, campaigns and content waterfalls for: Google, Gap, Unilever, Logitech, Athleta, SpinMaster, GIECO among others. A storyteller at heart, she had executed and developed media IP, from TikToks to episodic TV, for production companies and digital platforms.
Black’s work has earned widespread media recognition, landing in top publications such as National Geographic, Vogue, VICE, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, Esquire, Mic, Upworthy, Refinery29, Teen Vogue, i-D Magazine, BuzzFeed, and more.
She earned a BA in Film Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, lives in LA with her son Atlas and loves an extra greasy fish taco.
BOARDS, AWARDS & SPECIAL PROJECTS
Black was selected as a 2019 CDDP Fellow, the AIPC and DGA’s initiative to mentor and create opportunities for diverse commercial directors.
She previously served on boards for several environmental organizations including Nexus Working Group on Climate, Carbon Calories, and Earth Guardians.
As Director of Special Projects at Earth Guardians (E.D.) from 2015 - 2019, she co-organized a movement with E.D. Director and activist Xuitezcalt Martinez to enlist youth to the climate movement.
Our projects expanded Earth Guardians from 50 to 264 on-the-ground youth crews in over 50 countries, all creating tangible change within their communities. In 2019 alone, we reached 53 Million people on social platforms through organic media alone.
BRAND BUILdING: FUTURE PROSPERITY
In 2020 Black Co-Founded and Creative Directed a futurist platform called Future Prosperity that engaged Gen Z in the sustainability space. Using a fashion forward editorial approach and edgy product offering, the company’s goal was to educate customers about the environment through they things they buy. Our products were wholesale from company’s taking sustainable design to the next level; Our editorial platform gave content and context on consumption and its greater impact.
Through our partnership with Plastic Bank, we diverted 1Million plastic bottles from entering the ocean from a portion of our sales. We participated in the #PlasticFreePresident and #BreakFreeFromPlastic coalition's. The company launched with coverage in Forbes, Goop and Quarts.
The project was an amazing experience. It was a failure but a delightful experiencing building a brand from the ground up. Check out the video above all about what we were building.
