Grew up in central London

Moved to the East Village in NYC; began writing for Punk Magazine; first American journalist to interview The Sex Pistols

Wrote first in-depth article about English punk in the American press for Village Voice

Returned to London; worked for five years as a researcher with four of those years doing in-depth research for "The South Bank Show"; began directing segments for TV magazine shows (i.e., "The Late Show")

Hosted "UK Late", a British TV talk show

Returned to New York as producer of PBS' "Edge", a monthly magazine program exploring American pop culture; served as segment producer for "Art Crisis" and "Oliver Stone"; roomed with a pre-drag queen RuPaul

Co-wrote and directed first feature, "I Shot Andy Warhol"; shunned by Warhol pal Lou Reed, leader of the Velvet Undergound, drew solace from the fact that she did have Warhol friends on board, including the Undeground's John Cale who provided the original score

Primetime episodic debut as director, the "Sins of the Fathers" episode of NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" (aired in January); show executive produced by Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana

Helmed "Animal Farm" episode of HBO's "Oz" (aired in August), executive produced by Levinson and Fontana

Co-scripted and helmed the controversial "American Psycho", starring Christian Bale; while shooting in Toronto (substituting for NYC), the film ran into protests from a victim's rights advocacy group led by the mother of one of the two victims of Paul Bernardo and his wife, who allegedly drew inspiration for their atrocities from the Bret Ellis Easton source material; slapped with an NC-17 rating over a sex scene between Bale's character and two women; premiered at the Sundance Film Festival

Directed an episode of Showtime's lesbian drama "The L Word"

Directed an episode of the HBO funeral drama, "Six Feet Under"

Co-scripted and helmed the HBO biopic, "The Notorious Bettie Page" starring Gretchen Mol in the title role