Vanessa Newell is an LA based filmmaker. Her work is quirky and diverse but always with a focus on cinematic, visual storytelling.  She has been writing, directing, editing and producing films since she graduated USC film school in 1999. She has edited numerous documentaries that have aired on network and cable television as well as independent features and many short films, including the Emmy-nominated film Sway. 

 

She has written and directed 10+ short films which have won awards and screened at film festivals across North America and Europe, including Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Cinequest, Toronto, Barcelona, Berlin, and Warsaw. In 2011 she won the $25,000 grand prize at the DirecTV n3D Invitational for her short 3D film HAZELWOOD, a horror/comedy about a genetically altered lab rat that escapes from its cage - starring Richard Moll of Night Court. “It was so cute…then something went horribly wrong!”

When not making films she's a full professor at Loyola Marymount University where she teaches film production and film studies (emphasis on gender in media).

 

Her two passions are monster movies and social justice.  Obviously!