Background
Heder was born on June 23, 1977 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Heder was born on June 23, 1977 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
She graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.
After graduation, Heder moved to Hollywood to become an actress and screenwriter while working for a nanny agency. At the agency, she worked for guests with children staying at four-star hotels and her experiences inspired her first short film. In early 2005, the script for Mother was 1 of 8 chosen to be awarded a fellowship for the prestigious American Film Institute"s DWW (Directing Workshop for Women).
Mother also received honors at the Cinéfondation Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival.
Since then the film has been further selected to appear in competition at Palm Springs International Festival of Shorts and the British Film Institute"s London Film Festival. In 2011 she wrote and directed a short comedy, Dog Eat Dog (A Short Tale) starring Zachary Quinto to raise awareness for pet adoption.
She currently writes for the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black. In 2015, Sian Heder began directing Tallulah, starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney.
Tallulah was backed by Route One Entertainment, Maiden Voyages Pictures and Ocean Blue Entertainment.
The film was set to premier as one of 65 films selected for Sundance Film Festival January 21-31 in Utah. Netflix obtained worldwide rights to stream Tallulah in January 2016, although the release date was not finalized.