Originally from Oklahoma City, Vanessa Shealy completed her MFA in Acting from the University of Georgia before moving to the Big Apple, where she is a writer and actor. Vanessa’s full length plays include "Tea in the Afternoon," "American Drum Circle," and "One, Two, Whatever you do..." Her short plays include "A Captive Audience," "Cataracts," and a short solo play, "Naked." Her plays have been published, workshopped, or produced by UP Theater Company, Estrogenius Festival, The Abingdon Theater, The Actors Studio, Emerging Artists Theater, Sola Voce Festival, Queens Theater in the Park, South Street Theater, FringeNYC, Project Y, OnTheRoadRep, IndieTheatreNow, and ESPA/Primary Stages. A television spec script of hers was selected by the Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship for a script review at the American Black Film Festival, and a different spec was selected as a ScriptapoloozaTV finalist. Her original comedic short film, "Whistle & Snap" screened at six film festivals, including the Montreal Black Film Festival, and she was a contributing writer and performer for several NYC live sketch comedy shows. Vanessa was a co-producer of the feature length documentary, Souled Out Comedy, which won the Audience Choice award at The Friars Club Comedy Film Festival. She is also a performer who has appeared onstage in over 30 professional productions, in independent films, on television and in national commercials. She is the co-creator and writer of the comic book series Couri Vine.