Vanessa King

Founder of Cart Before Horse Media

Vanessa King is a Canadian producer, director, screenwriter and story editor with more than 20 years of experience working with talent across the film and television industries in Canada and the U.S. A Vanity Fair Downtown 100 honouree and Forbes Magazine Industry Thought Leader, she is the founder of Cart Before Horse Media, a boutique Canadian production company based in her home province of New Brunswick, Canada.

King has served as an Executive Director and judge for multiple film festivals and showcases across North America, including the Hip Hop Film Festival and UCLA Graduate Screenwriters Showcase. Her festival work has also included assisting the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival with talent acquisition, and she currently participates in the instructor series at Canada’s Silver Wave Film Festival.

King currently serves on the executive board of Media NB and the board of WIFT-AT, and is a member and mentor with the NB Film Co-op. She is also a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and has spent years mentoring and teaching emerging screenwriters through Gotham Writers’ Workshop and Raindance UK.

In 2026, King was selected for the Telefilm Canada’s highly competitive Talent to Watch program with her feature film Forget Me Not, which she wrote and will direct in June of 2027.