Vanessa Haroutunian
Producer. Filmmaker. Designer. Curator.
Vanessa Haroutunian (she/they) is a queer producer, artist, and curator. She is a producer at Big Think, a multimedia web portal building the world's biggest platform for ideas. Haroutunian received her B.A. in Film & Electronic Arts from Bard College, where she was awarded the Jerome B. Hill Award for Documentary Excellence. Currently, Haroutunian is a Fellow in Women in Film’s inaugural Emerging Producers Program where she is working with Mentor Jeannette Volturno. Haroutunian’s first producing experience was with Ira Sachs’ 2016 feature film Little Men which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Grand Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival. Since then Haroutunian has produced several short films, music videos, web series, and is in development on an all-trans feature horror film that was a finalist for Diverse Voices’ 2021 Screenwriting Lab. Haroutunian’s goal is to produce films that fill the gaps in the film industry, creating opportunities for diversity, inclusivity, and intersectionality in front of and behind the camera.
Selected Accolades: Women in Film Emerging Producers Program Fellow 2021. Sundance Creative Producers Lab Finalist 2019 & 2020. Gotham Week Film Market & Stowe Story Labs participant (2021, Radiant Flux). InsideOut’s Re:Focus Fund recipient (Blue). Finalist - Sundance Development Track & Diverse Voices’ 2021 Screenwriting Lab (Flock).
Selected Festivals: Academy Award Qualifying - Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, Holly Shorts Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival; Bafta Qualifying - London Short Film Festival; NewFest: New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival, InsideOut: Toronto LGBTQ Film Festival, Seattle Queer Festival, Big Apple Film Festival.
Producer - Radiant Flux (Development, Narrative Series)
Writer/Creator: Heather María Ács
Executive Producer: Silas Howard (Pose, Transparent, This is Us)
Accolades: Gotham Week Film Market Participant ‘21; Stowe Story Labs’ Episodic Lab Participant ‘21; Brooklyn Arts Council Brooklyn Arts Fund Recipient ‘21
Producer - Flock (Development, Narrative Feature)
Director: Ariel Mahler
Writers: Easton Carter Angle & Ariel Mahler
Accolades: Finalist, Sundance Development Track ‘21; Finalist, Diverse Voices’ Screenwriting Lab ‘21; Semifinalist, Flickers’ Rhode Island International Screenplay Competition; Semifinalist, Launch Pad’s Feature Competition
Consulting Producer - Pink & Blue (Narrative Short, 2021)
Director: Carmen LoBue
Write: Kadyx
Producer: Kadyx
Co-Producer: Leslye Headland
Executive Producer: Silas Howard
Cinematographer: April Maxey
Selected Festivals: Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, BronzeLens Film Festival, Inside Out: Toronto LGBTQ Film Festival
Awards: Best Narrative Short, Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival; Best in Show / Audience Favorite, Wicked Queer: Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Producer - Bad Ally: Quarantine Chronicles (Web Series, 2021)
Writer/Creator: Ariel Mahler, Daquisha Jones
Director: Ariel Mahler, Daquisha Jones, Alyssa Branch, Heather María Ács
Executive Producer: Kyle the Conductor
Cinematographer: Easton Carter Angle
Producer - Blue (Post-Production, Narrative Short)
Director: HK Goldstein
Writer: Tae Braun
Cinematographer: Easton Carter Angle
Starring: Tae Braun & Julia Weldon
Accolades: InsideOut’s Re:Focus Fund Recipient ‘20
Co-Producer - Flock (Narrative Short, 2021)
Director: Ariel Mahler
Writers: Easton Carter Angle, Ariel Mahler, and Calvin Woodruff
Producer: Iris Nevins, Rafael “Q” Quinde
Cinematographer: Easton Carter Angle
Production Designer: HK Rider
Starring: Samy Nour Younes, Will Krisanda
Screenings: Big Apple Film Festival, Horrible Imaginings, NOLA Horror Film Fest
Producer - Flourish (Narrative Short, 2020)
Director: Heather María Ács
Writer: Heather María Ács
Executive Producer: Silas Howard
Cinematographer: Sarah Tricker
Production & Costume Designer: Dusty Childers
Starring: Justin Sams, Becca Blackwell, Poppy Liu, Ryan J. Haddad, Morgan Sullivan, Oskar Gantuah, Delphin Cano
Selected Screenings: OutFest Fusion LGBTQ People of Color Film Festival (World Premiere); OutFest’s United in Pride Festival, NewFest, Seattle Queer Film Festival, Holly Shorts, London Short Film Festival, BAM’S Programmers Notebook series (2021)
Awards: Best LGTQ Short, Big Apple Film Festival
Producer - Skin the Wire (Narrative Short, 2019)
Director: Erin Greenwell (Smithy Productions - My Best Day)
Cinematographer: Jeannette Sears
Starring: Elizabeth Scopel, Maddie Small, Brandon Damiano, Declan Eels
Associate Producer - Little Men (Narrative Feature, 2016)
Director: Ira Sachs
Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Christos Konstantakopoulos, L.A. Teodosio, and Ira Sachs
Cinematographer: Óscar Durán
Production Design: Alexandra Schaller
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Paulina García, Jennifer Ehle, Theo Taplitz, and Michael Barbieri
Co-Producer - Be Here Nowish - Season 2 (Web Series, 2016)
Directors: Natalia Leite & Alexandra Roxo
Producers: Natalie Leite, Alexandra Roxo, Lindsey Ramey, and Rachel Nederveld
Cinematographer: Dagmar Weaver-Madsen
Starring: Natalie Leite, Alexandra Roxo, Karley Sciortino, Ry Russo-Young, and Kate Lyn Sheil
Associate Producer - Crush (Narrative Short, 2016)
Director: Katherine Bernard
Producers: Katherine Bernard, Cecilia Corrigan, & Carrie Cheek
Cinematographer: Carrie Cheek
Starring: Cecilia Corrigan, Hari Neff, Alex Karpovsky, and Wayne Koestenbaum