Maggie Greenwald

A former dancer and actor, Maggie Greenwald attended film school for one year before dropping out to make shorts and work in production as both a film editor and sound editor. After spending over five years raising the necessary financing, she helmed her first feature, "Home Remedy," in 1987. Praised by VARIETY (December 23, 1987) as "involving as it is funny, thanks to a fine script and excellent thesps," the indie was a blackly comic examination of a suburban married couple's struggle to fight boredom. Greenwald turned to a Jim Thompson novel, "The Kill-Off" (1989), for a foray into film noir as her sophomore effort. Exhibited at Cannes, "The Kill-Off" attracted some attention for its ensemble acting and for the director's keen control of tone and mood. The drama about a female invalid whose gossipy manner drives those around her to violence also played at the Munich and Torino Film Festivals. Despite these prestigious showcases that her two early efforts received, neither fared well in the commercial marketplace.