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.

Blackwell worked alongside the late Nelson Mandela and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, with whom he created five books including New York Times bestseller Conversations with Myself and The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela.

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.

In 2020 Blackwell and co-author Ruth Hobday published Human Nature: Planet Earth In Our Time. The book examines the age of the Anthropocene and the effect of humanity’s intersection with nature, asking photographers Joel Sartore, Paul Nicklen, Ami Vitale, Brent Stirton, Frans Lanting, Brian Skerry, Tim Laman, Cristina Mittermeier, J Henry Fair, Richard John Seymour, George Steinmetz and Steve Winter about their view on the present geological era for the planet.

In 2020 Blackwell published I Know This to Be True, a series of books featuring original interviews with modern leaders including Jacinda Ardern, Bryan Stevenson, Stephen Curry, Greta Thunberg and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Inspired by Nelson Mandela and produced in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the project shares the ideas, work and values of modern leaders. I Know This to Be True is the basis for the Netflix documentary series Live to Lead, also created and directed by Blackwell.

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; and 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World, 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
 * Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela with Mandla Langa (2017) – Publisher
 * Endangered by Tim Flach (2017) – Publisher
 * 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World (2018) – Co-Author with Ruth Hobday
 * The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela (2018) – 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
 * Human Nature: Planet Earth In Our Time (2020) – Co-Author with Ruth Hobday and Publisher
 * I Know This to Be True (2020) – Author and Photographer
 * 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.
 * 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World was exhibited in New York, Sydney, Munich, and Sweden.