Jamaica-born and raised, Blackwood has never been one to back down from a challenge and brings an out of the box approach to her filmmaking. She earned a BA in Media & Communication from the University of the West Indies and a Master’s in Screen Production from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She has written, directed, and shot multiple short films, documentaries, music videos, and commercials. Her advertising clients include the Discovery Channel, UNICEF, KFC, British Council, and Al Jazeera, among others.
Blackwood’s first feature documentary Denis is a story of courage and resilience, following a man diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 43. Rendered paralyzed and unable to speak, his wife is his
sole caretaker as he fights the aggressive, debilitating, and degenerative disease for the final five years of his life. She has garnered awards and accolades for Denis and several of her short films at festivals around the world, including Best Short and the Audience Award at Diversity in Cannes, Best Short at Festival International du Film Pan Africain de Cannes and the LA Film & Script Film Festival, to name a few.
Blackwood is a recipient of the Geoff Evans Award for Excellence in Screen Production in New Zealand and her feature screenplay Kendal has been shortlisted for a Sundance Lab, the Screencraft Drama Feature Writing
Competition, and is the winner of the Caribbean Tales 2019 Big Pitch Competition. Blackwood is a former President of the Jamaica Film & Television Association (JAFTA) and a Co-Convenor of Women In Film Jamaica.