Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Linda Mendoza majored in sociology at Wayne State University before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. After securing a job as a Page at what was then MetroMedia (KTTV Channel 11), she would work her way through numerous positions, including Production Assistant, Script PA, Script Supervisor and Associate Director, gaining experience in the industry. Although she did not have a traditional film school education, her training manifested in the form of hands-on learning through her two mentors: Dick Darley, with whom she worked in commercials, and Bruce Gowers, with whom she worked in variety, specials and the live television. Championed by Gowers after almost a decade as his Associate Director, Linda began working as a Director in the late 1990s and has since worked exclusively in that position, having directed over 100 episodes of television to date.
Mendoza’s breadth of work in episodic television includes The Bernie Mac Show, Scrubs, 30 Rock, Black-ish, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, Grand Crew, Ugly Betty, Harlem and Survival of the Thickest. Her variety and specials include The Chris Rock Show, Def Comedy Jam, The Mark Twain Prize, Tracey Ullman: Live and exposed (2005), Mad TV, In Performance at the White House, and Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth (2022). She has also directed a feature, Chasing Papi (2003).
Mendoza has been nominated five times for the DGA Award for the following specials: Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in Performance at The White House (2010), Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House (2015), Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize Celebrating David Letterman (2017), Wanda Sykes: Not Normal (2019), and most recently Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer(2023).
She has been a member of the Guild since 1987.