Parisian-born American film director Jonathan Kaplan may have held degrees from the University of Chicago and New York University, but he gained his hands-on education at the Roger Corman School of Makin' 'Em Cheap. Kaplan apprenticed at Corman's New World Pictures, making his directorial bow with the energetic if parsimonious Student Nurses (1971). After a few more low-budgeters, Kaplan was allowed to spend a little more time and money on White Line Fever (1975), then enjoyed his most lavish budget to date on Mr. Billion (1976), a lighthearted and empty-headed caper film starring Terence Hill, Valerie Perrine and Jackie Gleason. Kaplan made Hollywood's A-list with The Accused (1988), a fact-based account of a rape victim's quest for justice which featured Jodie Foster in her first Academy Award-winning role.