Valerie Breiman

Ms Breiman was born in San Francisco in 1964, youngest of five, to an architect father and mother who made children's television shows. When she was nine the parents split and she was brought up by her mother, who introduced her to her love of cinema. Acting and modelling in her teens she enrolled at the San Francisco State University to read journalism but dropped out and returned to acting, taking small parts in films before turning to directing television shows. Her big screen directorial debut was in 'Going Overboard,' Adam Sandler's film debut and she continued to direct throughout the 1990s before returning to infrequent screen roles in the twenty-first century. She is also an accomplished poker player.