Manning rose to prominence as a cinematographer before attracting acclaim for her directing, shooting dozens of short films and music videos from the early 2010s until the early 2020s. In 2023, Manning served as the cinematographer on
Charlotte Regan's debut feature
Scrapper. Her debut feature,
How to Have Sex, was developed with Film4.
How to Have Sex won the
Un Certain Regard Award at the
2023 Cannes Film Festival and the
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI at the
36th European Film Awards. In 2024, she earned two nominations at the
77th British Academy Film Awards for
How to Have Sex, including
Outstanding British Film and
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. In 2025, Manning was selected as the head of the jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the
78th Cannes Film Festival. Manning began developing her first television series with
A24 and
Channel 4 in 2025, titled
Major Players. The series will "follows two girls on the brink of adulthood and their mission to start a women’s football team." Production on the series began in September of that year. In April 2026, it was announced that A24 and
Plan B would produce Walker's next movie,
Not Another F**king Wedding. The two companies previously worked together for the films
Moonlight (2016) and
Minari (2020)
. ==Personal life==