She is regarded as a pioneer of the music video genre with works
for Madonna, including Borderline, Like a Virgin, Like a Prayer, and Material Girl, as
well as videos for artists like Janet Jackson, Mick Jagger, Rod
Stewart, Motley Crue, Annie Lennox, and Sting. For television, she has
directed an episode of Tales from the Crypt, and the movies for television Face of Evil; My Stepson, My Lover; Strange Frequency; Halloweentown II; and the music special, When You Believe: Music from ‘The Prince of Egypt’ with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Wynnona Judd and others. Her feature directing debut, Siesta, starring
Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne, Jodie Foster and Julian Sands, earned
Lambert a nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards for Best First
Feature. Grand Isle, with Kelly McGillis, and Ellen Burstyn,
received the Critics Choice Award at the Deauville Film Festival. Other
feature credits include the popular horror films Pet Sematary, Pet Sematary II, and The In Crowd, and the reality series On the Road in America. Most recently, she completed 14 Women, a portrait of the women serving as Senators in the United States Congress.
Mary Lambert is a long-time member of the DGA’s Independent
Directors Committee. She conducted the interview with Penelope Spheeris
for the DGA's Visual History Program.