Cole started working in media as a journalist when she got a cadetship at Imparja Television, when still at school. She gained experience in both writing and presenting stories, and also worked as a news and weather presenter.[1]
She graduated from Charles Sturt University with a BA in Communication and Sociology, and soon afterwards started work in the Indigenous Unit at ABC Television, where she started her filmmaking career.[1] In 2001, Cole graduated with a Master of Arts (Film & Television) Documentary from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS),[2] where she was exposed to a number of Australian documentary filmmakers.[1]
Cole established a working as well as a personal relationship with cinematographer Warwick Thornton,[1] and along with producer Kath Shelper they called themselves "the trinity" since working together from 2004.[7]Wirriya: Small Boy (2004) is a short film about an eight-year-old boy who lives in Hidden Valley, an Indigenous town camp near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, with his foster mother.[8]
In 2009 she wrote and directed Making 'Samson and Delilah', a 55 minute documentary on the making of the feature film Samson and Delilah, directed by Thornton.[6]
She directed several episodes over three series of the Black Comedy, which won a 2015 AACTA award for Best Direction in a Light Entertainment or Reality Series.[6]
After working on a number of series on Indigenous themes, she collaborated with Leah Purcell on several episodes of the popular prison drama series, Wentworth, between 2019 and 2021,[10] and with Bevan Lee on the Seven Network series Between Two Worlds, which premiered in 2020.[3][6]
Cole was voice director for all three seasons of Little J & Big Cuz, and wrote two episodes of the series.[3][6]
As of 2019 Cole was working on a horror film set in Alice Springs, based on a true story told by Aboriginal children who lived in a residential care home, where they were attacked by an evil entity.[3]
Cole and Sam Paynter workshopped ideas with local elders and young people to produce ideas for the storyline of the 2020 children's TV series Thalu, which was commissioned by National Indigenous Television and ABC Me.[11] She also co-wrote the screenplay for the series along with Paynter, Nayuka Gorrie, David Woodhead, and Donald Imberlong.[12]
Cole was formerly married to director Warwick Thornton,[5] whom she met in 1999.[18] They have a daughter, Luka May,[19][18] an actress also known as Luka Magdeline Cole or Luka May Glynn-Cole.[20] The couple shared a personal as well as professional relationship.[7] By 2018 Thornton and Cole had separated.[21]