[2] Bruce attended Coronado High School, where she began creating short films and was elected senior class president.
[1] She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated in 1983 with an undergraduate degree in film, sociology, and politics.
In 1999, Bruce co-produced the independent film Tumbleweeds, which won numerous awards and accolades.
She went on to executive-produce The Emperor's Club (2002), A Lot like Love (2005), Fighting (2009), Case 39 (2009), and Arthur Newman (2012).
Bruce first became involved with the project in 2009 when she joined New Zealand filmmaker Anthony McCarten, who had first begun his attempts to produce the film in 2004.