[3] Later in Los Angeles, she studied acting and other aspects of her craft with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Joanne Baron, and David Craig.

[1] She moved to Hollywood in 1976 and spent several years as a part of the Zoetrope Studio created by Francis Ford Coppola.

Her feature-length directorial debut, Not a Pretty Picture, was based on a date rape she suffered at age 16.

[4] Her breakthrough film was the independently produced Valley Girl (1983), which is best remembered for launching the career of Nicolas Cage.

[7] Despite a limited release hampered by economic problems suffered by the production company, the film played for months and earned many honors.