Vanessa’s Bio:

Vanessa Wells is a multi award-winning producer and director who’s worked in the arts for over 25 years. She has a long history as a performer with the Court Jesters in Christchurch, NZ, and has run her own voice business from her home studio for many years. Her clients include NCR, Auckland International Airport, Wellington Rail and RedSeed, among many others.

Vanessa first picked up a camera in 2007, initially as a presenter, clocking up more than 300 hours of live and pre-recorded broadcasting with regional television station CTV. This experience sparked a passion for telling stories from her community and after leaving CTV, she directed 22 episodes of the local social media profile series Braveheart Christchurch.

Once she stepped behind the camera, Vanessa realised how much she loved it - though the occasional “step back into the lights” still keeps her on her toes and reminds her what a tough gig acting really is (be nice to actors!).

Vanessa has had several trips to Antarctica, the first in 2018, supported by Antarctica NZ’s Community Engagement Programme, to create a touring educational children’s play and produce content for Sesame Street. A second expedition resulted in the short documentary Te Whakairo, which screened at festivals around the world and was also used by Manaaki Whenua and NIWA as part of their Ross Sea Region Research and Monitoring Programme, about the Ross Sea’s Marine Protected Area.

Antarctica has profoundly influenced Vanessa’s work. Her climate change feature documentary Mighty Indeed is currently winning awards as it travels the world, and she has also completed a short film on the same theme for the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, which plays continuously in their HD theatre to hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Over the last few years Vanessa has created eight additional short films for Sesame Street, and served on the board of WIFT NZ (Women in Film and Television) from 2015–2025.

She lives in Canterbury, New Zealand, and is a keen runner, biker, and hiker. Vanessa is also an operational member of Land Search and Rescue NZ — and is now officially the shortest in her family (not counting the spaniel).