BIO
Award-winning filmmaker and scientist, Dr. Valerie Weiss has infused her signature blend of elevated and emotional storytelling into her four feature films and dozens of television episodes. Her work has been called "daringly light" for the way it embraces controversial topics in enchanting ways and spans the genres of action, thriller, drama, science-fiction and comedy. Valerie's recently released feature film, Mixtape, which she directed for Netflix from a Blacklist-winning script, has scored a coveted 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and ranks as one of the best family films of 2021 according to The Washington Post and Common Sense Media. Mixtape, a nostalgic musical odyssey through the 80s and 90s follows 12-year old Beverly Moody as she seeks to learn about her late parents from a punk rock mixtape she finds in her basement.
Valerie's recent television work includes directing the finale of the limited series Echoes (Netflix) for showrunners Brian Yorkey and Quinton Peeples, an episode of the new Emmy-nominated Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount +), and multiple episodes across all seasons of Netflix's global megahit Outer Banks (Netflix). Additionally, she has directed multiple episodes for several of television's biggest producers including Shonda Rhimes, Dick Wolf, Greg Berlanti and Marc Cherry.
Valerie's third feature, The Archer, is a feminist coming-of-age action film best described as Thelma and Louise meets First Blood and premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival. Her other films have played at a multitude of film festivals and won various awards including the Audience Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival and Best Director at the Whistler Film Festival.
A proud member of the DGA, Valerie was elected Director Category Representative of the DGA's Women's Steering Committee and appointed to the DGA's new Sustainable Futures Committee by President Lesli Linka Glatter. In 2018, Valerie won the top honors in the Fox Filmmaking Lab for her pitch of a female-centric sequel in the Maze Runner franchise called True Maze. She participated in the WeForShe DirectHer Program, and the inaugural DGA Director Development Initiative. Valerie is on the Board of Advisors for the Paperless App Scriptation for which she recently won an Engineering Emmy. She is an alum of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) Program and holds a Ph.D. in biophysics and a Masters in Medical Sciences from Harvard Medical School. She is repped by CAA and John Bauman Management. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two daughters and goldendoodle, Murphy.
Valerie's recent television work includes directing the finale of the limited series Echoes (Netflix) for showrunners Brian Yorkey and Quinton Peeples, an episode of the new Emmy-nominated Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount +), and multiple episodes across all seasons of Netflix's global megahit Outer Banks (Netflix). Additionally, she has directed multiple episodes for several of television's biggest producers including Shonda Rhimes, Dick Wolf, Greg Berlanti and Marc Cherry.
Valerie's third feature, The Archer, is a feminist coming-of-age action film best described as Thelma and Louise meets First Blood and premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival. Her other films have played at a multitude of film festivals and won various awards including the Audience Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival and Best Director at the Whistler Film Festival.
A proud member of the DGA, Valerie was elected Director Category Representative of the DGA's Women's Steering Committee and appointed to the DGA's new Sustainable Futures Committee by President Lesli Linka Glatter. In 2018, Valerie won the top honors in the Fox Filmmaking Lab for her pitch of a female-centric sequel in the Maze Runner franchise called True Maze. She participated in the WeForShe DirectHer Program, and the inaugural DGA Director Development Initiative. Valerie is on the Board of Advisors for the Paperless App Scriptation for which she recently won an Engineering Emmy. She is an alum of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) Program and holds a Ph.D. in biophysics and a Masters in Medical Sciences from Harvard Medical School. She is repped by CAA and John Bauman Management. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two daughters and goldendoodle, Murphy.