After graduating from Barnard College in 1993, Babbit's first job was as an assistant to the assistant for
Martin Scorsese on
The Age of Innocence. The camp in the film was partly based on a halfway house for young people with drug and alcohol problems run by her mother. Babbit wanted this film to have characters that reminded her of herself and the people around her, since there was minimal representation of feminine lesbians in the media. She aimed to make it a comedy because the few lesbian movies produced before hers were serious, somber films. In 2000, the film won the Audience Award and the Graine de Cinéphage Award at the
Créteil International Women's Film Festival, an annual French festival which showcases the work of female directors. It was also nominated by the Political Film Society for two categories: the Exposé award and the Human Rights award. Film scholar
Wheeler Winston Dixon described the film as a commercial and critical success which became a cult film on DVD in later years. In 2020, for the film's 20th anniversary, Babbit's director's cut was released via video on demand. This version of the film was made available on Blu-Ray the next year.
The Quiet Babbit's second film was 2005 thriller film
The Quiet. Starring
Elisha Cuthbert and
Camilla Belle, the plot revolves around a deaf girl who, when sent to live with her godparents, discovers some dark secrets about the family. The film's worldwide rights was acquired by
Destination Films, which released this film in the United States theatrically through
Sony Pictures Classics. The film was not generally well received by critics, but still became a commercial success. It earned $381,420 in the box office worldwide.
Itty Bitty Titty Committee Babbit's next film, comedy
Itty Bitty Titty Committee was released in 2007. Produced by POWER UP, it starred
Melonie Diaz as a young woman who becomes involved with a
radical feminist group. It received mostly negative reviews but was nominated for a
Teddy Award at the
Berlin International Film Festival and won a jury award at
South by Southwest in 2007.
Breaking the Girls In 2011 Babbit began production on
Breaking the Girls, a thriller film written by
Mark Distefano and
Guinevere Turner. It was released in 2012.
Television Babbit has directed and produced episodes of several television programs including
Popular,
United States of Tara,
The Bernie Mac Show,
Malcolm in the Middle,
Nip/Tuck,
Gilmore Girls,
Castle,
Alias,
Ugly Betty,
Dirty Sexy Money,
Drop Dead Diva,
Looking,
Girls,
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and
The L Word. She enjoys working in television because it helps her to "keep her skills up". She has said that because television directors have less overall responsibility than film directors, she is able to concentrate on working with actors. Television work also enables her to earn money while pursuing her long-term goals of making feature films. ==Personal life==