User:BishopOfActaeon/sandbox

Amanda Van Annan, is a British actress, model, and entrepreneur.

Biography
Amanda Van Annan attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the age of 16. She began modelling after being discovered by a makeup artist, and appeared in an ad campaign for Vidal Sassoon. She was featured in advertisements for brands like Revlon, Ebel and Woolworths Group. Van Annan appeared on the covers of of magazines such as Elle, Vogue and Photo Magazine. She also appeared in Telegraph Magazine and the South African magazine Drum.

Van Annan began acting after enrolling at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles. She played leading roles in the films Rag Tag and The Empire, both of which were released in 2006. In 2009 she played in the Italian film (titled "Christmas in Beverly Hills" in English). That same year, she appeared as a guest on in two episodes of GMTV. She later founder her own production company, Great Light Entertainment.

Van Annan was the producer and host of the documentary Jambo Jumbo in 2010. The film, which explored the Maasai Mara in Kenya, was narrated by Richard Branson. Branson and Van Annan later produced the documentary Equation of Change together. She was credited as Amanda Alys in both documentaries.

Van Annan wrote, directed and produced the television series Celebville360 and was producer of the reality webseries The Diary of a Nigerian Wife (2014) through Great Light Entertainment.

She played the role of Lisa in Gregory Hatanaka's Body of Night (2020) and appeared in the comedy film Acrylic (2020). Since 2020, Van Annan has hosted the podcast Beauty and the Beat, which discusses the fashion industry, mental health, body positivity and politics.

In May 2021, Annan released the book Win the Runway, which LA Weekly described as "a guidebook for models."

Other work
Annan and Judi Shekoni co-founded Evolution Extensions together Van Annan also founded Elicina Europe and DNA Hair USA. She has been Senior Vice President of Miko Beauty since 2019.

Personal life
Van Annan is the niece of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Her father is Ghanaian and her mother is from Martinique, however Van Annan was adopted at a young age and was raised in London.

Activism
Amanda Van Annan co-founded the women's education charity Etcetera, with a fellow volunteer she met while filming in Kenya with Richard Branson. She is actively involved with CAMFED, a non-profit organization that supports women's education. She was also an ambassador for One Laptop per Child.