American director, writer and actress, born in San Francisco in 1964. She was born to an architect father, a mother who worked in television programs for children, and five siblings. She attended San Francisco State University to study journalism but dropped out to pursue acting, playing small parts in films before turning to directing television shows. Her feature directorial debut came with Going Overboard (1989), Adam Sandler's first film and she worked as a director throughout the 1990s before she returned to play screen roles. She became also an accomplished poker player.