Biography
Vanessa is an Academy Award, Emmy Honors, DuPont-Columbia and Sundance Award Winning filmmaker with over 25 years of Directing, Producing and Writing social justice documentary features, series, shorts and branded content. Among her work she is the Executive Producer, Writer and Director of the Emmy Honors winning international series, Daughters of Destiny (Netflix Originals), Oscar winner for her film Freeheld (HBO), Director of the Premium Documentary Mary J Blige's My Life(Amazon Originals), as well as Executive Producer, Writer and Director for National Geographic Presents IMPACT with Gal Gadot, an international 6- part series and feature length documentary (National Geographic Originals). Her work has garnered the highest of honors in documentary, film, television and journalism with over 60 awards including the Oscar, The Television Academy Emmy Award for Social Impact, Sundance Prizes, Cine Golden Eagles, Casey Medals, Impact Doc Awards for Best in Show and Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking, IDA nominations, Audience Awards and Jury Prizes at festivals around the world, as well as top honors for work in social impact, social justice, witness to history and legacy, youth empowerment and women's rights. Her projects, known for their intimacy, honesty, and cinematic approach to real life are made around the world; from big cities to the most rural villages, collaborating with children, teens and families that have never been given an avenue to tell their stories, to world leaders. She has made content for Netflix, Amazon, ESPN, PBS, A&E, NBC, National Geographic, Discovery, UNESCO, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The USC Shoah Foundation, Amplify, Storyfile, The Nanjing Memorial Hall, Holocaust Memorial halls, has been a TEDX speaker as well as key-note speaker and adjunct professor for universities, organizations and foundations focused on youth and female empowerment, ethics, legacy, memory, history and storytelling. Vanessa has a Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and Psychology from UCLA and holds a Master's degree in Social Work and minor in family law from Columbia University. Before making films, Vanessa worked as a Child Advocate in New York and California courts, schools and hospitals. Some of Vanessa's film and television work includes, National Geographic Presents IMPACT with Gal Gadot docu-series, Mary J Blige's My Life, Daughters of Destiny docu-series, The Other Side 30 for 30, Liberation Heroes: The Last Eyewitnesses, The Girl and the Picture, Freeheld, American Teacher, The Texas Promise, Taken In, Aging Out, No Tomorrow, Close to Home, 911 Toxic Dust, Third Monday in October.
Vanessa lives in New York with her husband and three children. Her eldest daughter is singer/songwriter Maya Donovan and her father is Academy Award Winning Screenwriter, Eric Roth.
