Geoff Blackwell

Geoff Blackwell is a New Zealand publisher, author and film director, the co-founder of Blackwell & Ruth, and founder of MILK Tailormade Books. He has created books, exhibitions and films on subjects of humanity, equality and the environment. He is the creator and director of the Netflix original series Live to Lead, which was created in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
==Publishing History==
In 2003 Blackwell established an independent publishing house, PQ Blackwell, and in 2012 he founded print-on-demand photo book business, MILK Tailor Made Books. 
In 2017 he co-founded Blackwell & Ruth in partnership with Ruth Hobday, his long-time creative partner.
He published Tutu: The Authorized Portrait with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and two books on the struggle for freedom in South Africa with anti-apartheid activist the late Ahmed Kathrada.
Blackwell has created books with international photographers Tim Flach, Platon, Albert Watson, Elliott Erwitt, Andrew Zuckerman, Phillip Toledano, Mark Laita, Rachael Hale McKenna, Leila Jeffries, Kieran E. Scott, Peter and Beverly Pickford, KK Ottesen, Vince Musi and Callie Shell.
==Authored Work==
In 1998 Blackwell created M.I.L.K: Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship, an international photographic competition which received 40,000 entries from 164 countries.
200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World is a book and exhibition gender equality initiative published in 2018. Co-authored with Ruth Hobday, it combines original interviews with photographic portraits by Kieran E. Scott, and was the result of a global journey to find two hundred women from diverse backgrounds, and to ask them what really matters to them.
==Film Work==
In 2022 Netflix released the original series Live to Lead, directed by Blackwell and produced by Ruth Hobday. The series was created in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and executive-produced by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan.
Blackwell has created multi-platform projects including Wisdom, a book, film and exhibition with photographer Andrew Zuckerman featuring portraits and interviews with fifty famous 65-year-olds; a book and exhibition project with co-author Ruth Hobday and photographs by Kieran E. Scott.
==Books==
* M.I.L.K. Moments Intimacy Laughter and Kinship – Family with an introduction by James McBride (2001) – Creator and Author 
* M.I.L.K. Moments Intimacy Laughter and Kinship – Friendship with an introduction by Maeve Binchy (2001) – Creator and Author 
* M.I.L.K. Moments Intimacy Laughter and Kinship – Love with an introduction by Kim Phuc (2001) – Creator and Author 
* Diana: The Portrait (2004) – Publisher and Art Director 
* Mandela: The Authorised Portrait (2005) – Publisher and Art Director 
* Woof by Elliott Erwitt (2005) – Publisher 
* mewe (2007) – Creator and Author 
* A Simple Freedom by Ahmed Kathrada with Tim Couzens (2008) – Publisher 
* Equus by Tim Flach (2008) – Publisher and Creative Director 
* Photowisdom: Master Photographers on their Art by Lewis Blackwell (2009) – Publisher 
* Dogs by Tim Flach (2010) – Publisher 
* Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela (2010) – Publisher 
* Strip Search by Albert Watson (2010) – Publisher and Art Director 
* UFO by Albert Watson (2010) – Publisher 
* Power: Portraits of World Leaders by Platon (2011) – Publisher 
* Sea by Mark Laita (2011) – Publisher 
* Tutu: The Authorised Portrait (2011) – Publisher and Creative Director 
* Days with My Father by Phillip Toledano (2012) – Publisher 
* More Than Human by Tim Flach (2012) – Publisher and Creative Director 
* Serpentine by Mark Laita (2013) – Publisher 
* Bird Love by Leila Jeffreys (2015) – Publisher 
* Conversations with a Gentle Soul by Ahmed Kathrada and Sahm Venter (2017) – Publisher 
* Endangered by Tim Flach (2017) – Publisher 
* Wild Land by Peter and Beverly Pickford (2018) – Publisher 
* Activist: Portraits of Courage by KK Ottesen (2019) – Publisher 
* Hope, Never Fear: A Personal Portrait of the Obamas by Callie Shell (2019) – Publisher 
* The recipe by Josh Emett with photographs by Kieran E. Scott (2019) – Publisher 
* The Year of the Dogs by Vincent J. Musi (2019) – Publisher 
* Birds by Tim Flach (2021) – Publisher 
* A Fire Inside: The Power of the Human Help Reflex by Matthew Abbott (2021) – Publisher 
* Bird Land by Tim Laman (2022) – Publisher 
==Films==
* Wisdom (2008) – Executive Producer
* Music (2010) – Executive Producer
* Live to Lead (2022) – Director, Executive Producer
==Exhibitions==
* M.I.L.K.: Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship M.I.L.K. was exhibited at New York’s Grand Central Terminal, the Sydney Opera House and London’s Science Museum.
* Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman was exhibited at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, New York, Los Angeles, Dublin and Toronto.
Category:New Zealand people
Category:Publishers
Category:Author
Category:Film directors
Category:Company founders