Daughter of the late independent filmmaker Paul Leder, Mimi Leder was the first woman accepted to study cinematography at the American Film Institute. She began her career as a script supervisor, serving a six-year stint in that capacity for NBC's "Hill Street Blues", and performed the same duty for several TV-movies. The short film "Short Order Dreams", which she produced and directed, impressed the producers of NBC's "L.A. Law", and she made her TV directing debut with a 1986 episode of that hit series. Subsequently, Leder helmed episodes of "Crime Story" (NBC), "The Bronx Zoo" (NBC), "A