Raised in New Jersey, Mayfield He started making “vacation movies and neighborhood comedies” when he was in fifth grade, after his grandfather gifted him an 8mm camera. At the age of 14 he won the Kodak Teenager Movie Award and began to desire to attend film school. During your freshman year at the University of California, Mayfield and a partner formed ZM Productions.
After graduating from the prestigious USC School of Film and Television in 1982, he began his career as a director at his own company, creating television and film documentaries. However, it was not until he found work as a messenger in the telefilm Psycho II (1983), where he was introduced to producer Hilton Green, who found the help he needed to break into the big leagues.