Mimi Leder facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mimi Leder
Leder at the 75th Annual Peabody Awards in 2016
Born	Miriam Leder (1952-01-26) January 26, 1952 (age 73) New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	AFI Conservatory
Occupation	Film director, film producer, script supervisor
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Gary Werntz
Children	Hannah Leder

Miriam Leder (born January 26, 1952) is an American film and television director and producer. She is known for directing action movies and using cool special effects. She has directed films like The Peacemaker (1997), Deep Impact (1998), Pay It Forward (2000), and On the Basis of Sex (2018). Mimi Leder was the first woman to graduate from the AFI Conservatory in 1973. She has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards and has won two!

Early life and education

Mimi Leder was born in New York City in 1952. Her mother, Etyl, was a classical pianist, and her father, Paul Leder, was a director, producer, actor, writer, and editor. Mimi grew up in Los Angeles in a Jewish family. Her mother was a Holocaust survivor from Belgium.

When Mimi was a child, her father, who made independent films, introduced her and her siblings to how movies are made. He often took her to the cinema to watch the newest films. Mimi says that one of the first movies that really impressed her was 8½ by Federico Fellini. She was the first woman accepted into the AFI Conservatory, where she studied how to film movies.

Film and TV career

Mimi Leder started her career working on her father's film A*P*E in 1976. Then, she worked as a script supervisor on several films and later on the TV series Hill Street Blues (1981). After making a short film called Short Order Dreams, she showed it to Steven Bochco, who created Hill Street Blues. He and his friend Gregory Hoblit then hired her to direct an episode of L.A. Law.

In 1988, Leder directed episodes for shows like Crime Story and Midnight Caller. She then directed many episodes of China Beach (1988–91), which earned her four Emmy nominations. She also directed TV movies such as Woman with a Past (1992) and House of Secrets (1993).

Mimi Leder became one of the main directors for the popular TV show ER (1994–2009). This show helped her win Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 1995 and 1996. She even came back to direct an episode during the show's last season in 2009. Soon after, Steven Spielberg offered her a job to direct the film The Peacemaker (1997).

She continued working for DreamWorks, directing Deep Impact (1998) and Pay It Forward (2000). At the same time, she created Sentimental Journey (1999), a short film about her parents. After Pay It Forward, Mimi Leder found it harder to get jobs directing feature films. She felt like Hollywood wasn't giving her big movie projects anymore because Pay It Forward wasn't a huge box office success.

This period led her to focus more on television. She directed and produced many TV series, including The Beast (2001), John Doe (2002), and Vanished (2006). She also made several TV movies. In 2015, HBO hired Leder to direct an episode of The Leftovers, and she later became a co-showrunner for the series.

Mimi Leder's film On the Basis of Sex was released in December 2018. This movie tells the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's journey to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. It was Mimi Leder's first movie for theaters in 18 years! More recently, she has directed and executive produced episodes of The Morning Show (2019–present).

Personal life

Mimi Leder is married to actor Gary Werntz. They have a daughter named Hannah. Mimi Leder has shared that she "was raised a feminist" and was an "anti-war protester" during the Vietnam War.

Filmography

Film

• The Peacemaker (1997)
• Deep Impact (1998)
• Sentimental Journey (1999) (Short film)
• Pay It Forward (2000)
• Thick as Thieves (2009)
• On the Basis of Sex (2018)

TV movies

TV series

Awards and nominations

Mimi Leder has won and been nominated for many awards for her work in film and television.

See also

In Spanish: Mimi Leder para niños