Mimi Leder (born
January 26,
1952) is an American
film director. She was the first female graduate of the
AFI Conservatory in 1973.
Born in
New York City to parents Paul and Etyl Leder, Leder began her career as a television script supervisor, working on such projects as
Spawn of the Slithis (1978) and
Hill Street Blues (1981). Shortly after working on the television drama
Under the Influence in 1986, Leder began directing
L.A. Law.
Leder continued television work during the late 1980s and early 1990s, including work on the 1988 television movie
Nightingales and the series
China Beach, for which she was nominated for several Emmy awards. In 1994, she directed and co-produced nearly a dozen episodes of
ER, which earned her Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 1995 and 1996. She returned to direct an episode of the series during its final season in 2009.