VANESSA HEHIR
Manchester-born Vanessa is a British-Irish award-winning writer, director, and actor who is passionate about telling bold and emotionally honest stories, no matter the genre.
After two decades in front of the camera with leading roles in Waterloo Road, Heartbeat, and Coronation Street, Vanessa founded Bosslady Films in 2019 where she truly found her voice, writing and directing two short films which have screened internationally.
In 2021, Vanessa was selected for Channel 4's 4Screenwriting mentorship program with her pilot Unlucky: a bold, raunchy rom-com about a woman who falls in love with a six-foot wish-granting leprechaun. The project was later optioned by SISTER Pictures.
Recently, Vanessa was selected for the inaugural Warner Brothers Discovery Access program in partnership with Waterloo Road and the BBC, developing female directors for screen. Vanessa was subsequently offered a placement on Season 17 of Waterloo Road.
In 2025 Vanessa’s was a finalist for the International Writer’s Lab, her sitcom Boomerang was shortlisted for The Funny Women Comedy Writer’s Award, and she is currently the recipient of New Writing North’s 2025/26 Development Award.
Vanessa is a member of BAFTA connect and Director’s UK and is represented in the US by Katie Marshall at WME.