Mimi Leder facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mimi Leder
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Leder at the 75th Annual Peabody Awards in 2016
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Miriam Leder
January 26, 1952 New York City, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | AFI Conservatory |
| Occupation | Film director, film producer, script supervisor |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Spouse(s) | Gary Werntz |
| Children | Hannah Leder |
Mimi Leder (born Miriam Leder on January 26, 1952) is an American director and producer. She is famous for her action-packed movies and television shows that often use amazing special effects. Some of her best-known films are The Peacemaker, Deep Impact, and On the Basis of Sex.
Leder was the first woman to graduate from the AFI Conservatory, a famous film school, in 1973. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards and has won two.
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Early Life and Family
Mimi Leder was born in New York City in 1952. Her family was Jewish, and she grew up in Los Angeles. Her mother, Etyl, was a talented classical pianist and a survivor of the Holocaust. Her father, Paul Leder, was a filmmaker who directed, wrote, and produced his own movies.
Growing up, Mimi's father introduced her to the world of filmmaking. He would often take her to the movie theater to see the newest films. One movie that inspired her was Federico Fellini's 8½. She later decided to study filmmaking and became the first woman ever accepted into the cinematography program at the AFI Conservatory.
Career in Film and Television
Starting Out
Leder began her career working on her father's movies. She started as a script supervisor, a job that involves keeping track of everything that happens in a movie scene to make sure it all makes sense. She worked on several films and the TV series Hill Street Blues.
After making a short film called Short Order Dreams, she showed it to the creators of popular TV shows. They were so impressed that they hired her to direct an episode of the legal drama L.A. Law.
Success in Television
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Leder directed episodes for many popular TV shows, including China Beach. Her work on China Beach earned her four Emmy nominations.
Her big break came when she became a main director for the hit medical drama ER. The show was a huge success, and it won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 1995 and 1996 with Leder as a producer. She even returned to direct one of the final episodes in 2009.
Directing Big-Budget Movies
Because of her success with ER, director Steven Spielberg offered her the chance to direct a major movie. She directed the action film The Peacemaker in 1997.
She then directed two more big movies for Spielberg's company, DreamWorks. The first was Deep Impact (1998), a disaster movie about a comet heading for Earth. The second was Pay It Forward (2000), a drama about a boy who tries to make the world a better place.
After Pay It Forward was not a big box office success, Leder found it difficult to get hired for new movies. She felt like she had been put in "movie jail" by Hollywood. However, this did not stop her from continuing to work in television.
Return to Television and Film
Leder focused again on television, directing and producing many shows. She worked on series like John Doe, Vanished, and later, the popular HBO series The Leftovers.
In 2018, Leder made a powerful return to directing movies with On the Basis of Sex. The film tells the true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lawyer who fought for equal rights and later became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. It was Leder's first major film in 18 years. More recently, she has been a director and executive producer for the award-winning series The Morning Show.
Personal Life
Mimi Leder is married to actor Gary Werntz, and they have a daughter named Hannah Leder, who is also in the film industry. Leder has said that she was "raised a feminist," meaning she was taught to believe in equal rights for women.
Selected Work
Here are some of Mimi Leder's most famous projects.
Films
- The Peacemaker (1997)
- Deep Impact (1998)
- Pay It Forward (2000)
- On the Basis of Sex (2018)
Television Series
- China Beach (1988–1991)
- ER (1994–2009)
- The West Wing (2006)
- Shameless (2011–2012)
- The Leftovers (2014–2017)
- The Morning Show (2019–present)
Awards
Mimi Leder has been recognized many times for her excellent work as a director and producer.
- She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on the TV series ER.
- She has been nominated for ten Emmys in total for shows like China Beach, The West Wing, and The Morning Show.
- In 1991, the American Film Institute gave her the Franklin J. Schaffner Award, an honor given to outstanding graduates.
- In 2000, she received the Dorothy Arzner Award from Women in Film for her achievements as a female director.
See also
In Spanish: Mimi Leder para niños
