Julie has written and directed for hit shows ER, The West Wing, Third Watch and Numb3rs, and written the screenplays for “Ruby’s Bucket of Blood,” based on her play; “Female Perversions,” inspired by a psychiatric textbook; and "Lying Awake," adapted from Mark Salzman's best-selling novel. Julie is also an accomplished playwright and theater director. She grew up on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
Television
All of Julie’s work for television, both writing and directing, is distinguished by an aggressive, head-on dramatic tension, and a fierce dedication to the complexities of being human. Unafraid to tackle difficult subject matter, Julie has told stories about everything from the psychology of violence to polygamy, euthanasia, and online videogame stalkers. Her scripts are noted for their subtlety, humor and rock-solid structure.
Julie draws on her experience as a theater director to bring out powerful performances from actors, evident in her directing work for The West Wing and ER.
"The actors love her when she’s directing, which is great." –John WellsFor the action-procedural Numb3rs, Julie’s direction incorporates fast-paced, effects-laden sequences and the integral use of CGI visuals to tell the story.
Julie has won many awards for her television work, including a George Foster Peabody Award, Prism Award, and an Environmental Media Award.
Film
Julie’s work for film has been praised as “intriguingly complex” (Variety) and “pulsing with veracity” (LA Times), with “a raw power that is impossible to dismiss” (Roger Ebert).
Co-written with director Susan Streitfeld, Female Perversions stars Tilda Swinton as Eve, a high-powered lawyer on the verge of a psychosexual breakdown. Female Perversions premiered at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, and was later released by October Films.
“Ruby’s Bucket of Blood” is a “sexy, sultry drama” (LA Times) about a south Louisiana nightclub owner in the early 1960’s, played by Angela Bassett, who falls for a white soul singer. The script is based on Julie’s successful play of the same name. “Ruby’s” premiered on Showtime.
One of Julie’s early jobs as a screenwriter was “All-American Girl: the Mary Kay Letourneau Story,” (USA), the true story of a 34 year old schoolteacher who had an affair with her 13 year old student. This made-for-TV movie remains one of the most viewed in the history of the USA Network.
Theater
Julie started her creative life as a theater director in San Francisco and was fortunate to work extensively with Sam Shepard. She met him at the Eureka Theater while directing his play COWBOY MOUTH, which he wrote with Patti Smith. Later, with her company The Overtones, Julie edited some of Sam’s writing to create a new musical theater piece called SUPERSTITIONS, which was performed in San Francisco and New York, and aired on KQED, garnering an EMMY for musical collaboration. Julie oversaw the direction of Shepard’s award-winning New York production of FOOL FOR LOVE, starring Ed Harris and Kathy Baker, and later Will Patton, Aidan Quinn and Bruce Willis. She went on to direct the Steppenwolf production of A LIE OF THE MIND, and an award-winning production of FOOL FOR LOVE with Pam Grier at the Los Angeles Theater Center. She also took the play on tour throughout Japan
Specializing as a director of new work, Julie directed plays by David Mamet, Caryl Churchill, Dario Fo, José Rivera, Lucinda Coxon, Heiner Muller and others at some of the most daring theaters throughout the country.
Julie’s first work as a playwright, TRUE BEAUTIES, won the Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Best Play. She followed that success with the much-acclaimed ALMOST ASLEEP, RUBY’S BUCKET OF BLOOD, and THE KNEE DESIRES THE DIRT, which won a PEN Center Award for Drama.
In 2009, Julie had three plays premiere: TOUCH THE WATER, a commission with Cornerstone Theater about environmental justice, was performed on the banks of the Los Angeles River; ST. JOAN AND THE DANCING SICKNESS was performed in rep at the Open Fist; and TREE ran to critical acclaim and sold out houses at the John Anson Ford Theater, and was produced by Ensemble Studio Theater-LA.
“I think I fall someplace in the Southern tradition as a writer--a strong sense of place, a love of the strange in everyday life, a tendency toward flawed, difficult characters who somehow still charm, and an effort to capture a kind of brutal lyricism that reflects unsentimental reality–harsh, paradoxical, poetic.” –Julie Hébert