Vanessa Holtgrewe serves as an IATSE Assistant Department Director of Motion Picture and Television Production, a position she has held since 2014. In January 2024, she was elected IATSE\u2019s 12th International Vice President. Her career spans motion picture and television production, union organizing, contract negotiations, and service on industry benefit and union governing boards.<\/p>\n
Holtgrewe became an International Representative in 2012, organizing non-union productions and negotiating agreements for scripted and non-scripted television, streaming projects, and feature films. Her transition into union work followed her involvement in organizing NBC\u2019s The Biggest Loser, where she worked as a director of photography. That experience connected her production background with a career in organizing and collective bargaining.<\/p>\n
Since joining the International, Vanessa has participated in each cycle of bargaining for the Basic, Videotape and Area Standards Agreements, the Low Budget Theatrical Agreement, and in 2026, she negotiated the first ever contract to cover motion capture workers in the U.S. at 2K\u2019s MoCap studio in Petaluma, CA.<\/p>\n
Before joining the union full-time, Holtgrewe spent a decade working as a director of photography and camera operator on documentary features, reality series, and competition shows. Her cable and network credits include The Biggest Loser, FOX\u2019s The X Factor, and The Layover with Anthony Bourdain.<\/p>\n
Holtgrewe earned a Master of Fine Arts in Cinematography from UCLA\u2019s School of Theater, Film and Television, where she was among the first students accepted into its cinematography track. While at UCLA, Vanessa began collaborating with the HyperMedia Studio and the Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP). Those collaborations brought together filmmaking, performing arts, and engineering to explore new forms of creative expression, extending her production work into interdisciplinary research and performance.<\/p>\n
In addition to her roles with the International, Holtgrewe serves as an executive board member of the International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600, and as a union Trustee of the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan. Vanessa\u2019s background as a working cinematographer informs her service to motion picture and television production crews through organizing, contract negotiations, and union and benefit plan governance.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":16240,"menu_order":14,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"yoast_head":"\n