Maggie Hadleigh-West
Maggie Hadleigh-West (born October 1, 1958) is an American filmmaker and activist. Early life and education. Hadleigh-West was born in Fairbanks, Alaska to parents; Katherine Talbot a legal secretary and Frederick Hadleigh West a college professor in Archeology and Anthropology, both of whom grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a child, she was influenced by 1960s radical politics and economic injustice. After the divorce of her parents in 1970, her mother moved with Hadleigh-West and her two brothers Fred Jr. and Dickson to Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. In high school, Hadleigh -West first picked up a camera, intending to videotape her good friend Joanne Liebeler in character as a gypsy in downtown Minneapolis. While shooting she became distracted by a pimp in full 1970’s regalia, a moment in her development she believes pointed directly to her film "". In 1984, Hadleigh-West enrolled at George Washington University where she majored in Visual Communications. For the next ten years, Hadleigh-West worked as a Graphic Designer/Art Director, and later attended graduate school at School of the Visual Arts in New York City where she got her masters in Fine Art. Her  thesis was an experimental documentary short titled "War Zone" (1991, 13 min.) which she later expanded into a feature length "War Zone" (1998) and launched her career as a filmmaker. Film and television career. Hadeigh-West's thesis garnered a story in "Glamour" Magazine which led to a media bilzt and the creation of her own company, Film Fatale Productions. Film Fatale's goal is to expose and explore the manifestations of prejudice and oppression in marginalized communities throughout the United States and abroad. Clients have included: Department of Defense, Department of Justice, the Smithsonian Museum, Williams College, Middlebury College , the Juilliard School, University of California at Berkeley, Albright College, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, juvenile prisons, alternative detention centers, among other clients. Hadeigh-West has also produced television segments for "Lifetime Live", "Dateline NBC", "Split Screen", and "SexTV" in Canada. Hadeigh-West directed "Player Hating: A Love Story" (2010) which chronicles Brooklyn rapper Half-A-Mil in his journey from obscurity to celebrity inside one of America's most dangerous housing projects.