Hadleigh-West was born in Fairbanks, Alaska to parents; Katherine Talbot a legal secretary and Frederick Hadleigh West a college professor in Archeology and Anthropology, both of whom grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In high school, Hadleigh-West first picked up a camera, intending to videotape her good friend Joanne Liebeler in character as a gypsy in downtown Minneapolis.
While shooting she became distracted by a pimp in full 1970’s regalia, a moment in her development she believes pointed directly to her film Player Hating: A Love Story.
Hadeigh-West's thesis garnered a story in Glamour Magazine which led to a media blitz and the creation of her own company, Film Fatale Productions.
Hadeigh-West directed Player Hating: A Love Story (2010) which chronicles Brooklyn rapper Half-A-Mil in his journey from obscurity to celebrity inside one of America's most dangerous housing projects.