Born in Pontiac, Michigan, she was raised in Alabama. In her late teens, she moved to New York City and eventually began her filmmaking career. She learned her craft by doing continuity for over 15 years on feature films and working with directors as diverse as Gerald Diamiano, Richard Attenborough, Karel Reisz, Paul Schrader, Jonathan Demme, and Taylor Hackford. While working behind the camera, as a script supervisor, she also acted in Demme's film, “Last Embrace”. This was the beginning of a brief acting career. Starring in an independently produced film noir “Variety”, which was invited to the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984. She later had roles in “Melvin and Howard,” “Tootsie.” “Something Wild,” and “City of Hope”. For a short stretch of time, McLeod worked as a production designer on a series of projects that included PBS’s “Trying Times” written by Beth Henley, and directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Roseanna Arquette. Also, on “Mountainview”, a dance film directed by John Sayles and choreographed by Marta Renzi for “Alive From Off Center” She collaborated with Demme as the production designer on “Swimming to Cambodia.” She teamed up with Jordan Cronenweth and Jonathan Demme as a visual consultant to establish the innovative textural elements for the landmark film, “Stop Making Sense.” She also worked with Demme as an Associate Producer on a documentary for Channel 4 titled, “Haiti, Dreams of Democracy”. McLeod also contributed as the second unit director to John Sayles films “Limbo” and “Silver City.” Her next film was “Doll Day Afternoon”, a short she directed for Saturday Night Live. Sandy conceptualized, produced and directed several Talking Heads music videos. “Nothing but Flowers” was featured at the New York Film Festival. She produced, directed and co-wrote segments of an AIDS awareness project aired by CBS titled Red, Hot + Blue. McLeod directed an Academy Award-nominated short documentary, “Asylum” –a film about a Ghanaian woman who sought political asylum in the United States to escape female genital mutilation in her home country. The film won a Gracie, and was nominated for an Emmy in 2006 Her first feature-length documentary, “The Seeds of Time” premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival, and has played in numerous film festivalsall over the world. “Seeds of Time” traces the story of Cary Fowler and his single-handed effort to successfully establish the Svalbard Seed Bank that is now the repository of seed samples from around the world. The film stresses the importance of agricultural diversity, especially given the dire implications of climate change. It has won several awards internationally, including the Audience Award at the San Francisco Green Film Festival, Best Film at the Portland Eco Film Festival, and Best Cinematography at Costa Rica International Film Festival. It was aired on PBS].
