Vanessa started out drawing comics, animating and shooting zombie comedies with friends and family. By 15, she had decided she wanted to be a director. A few detours through communication design, scientific research and motion design followed, presumably to give everyone else a head start.

She began studying directing at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 2020, making short films and spec spots populated by weirdly lovable characters in worlds that are a little out of the ordinary. Her work brings together a designer’s eye and a love of genre filmmaking, with storytelling at the centre of it all.

Along the way, a DAAD scholarship took her to the University of Texas at Austin, and her films have picked up awards at the Young Director Award, Ciclope, the Andys, the Clios and ADC, among others.