Judianna was born on August 24, 1955. As a child she joined the Metropolitan Opera ballet and children's chorus but was always more interested in what went on backstage to produce a show. After graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago and Yale Drama School she worked as an assistant to Jane Greenwood, the English designer who had been one of her teachers at Yale and who introduced her to Milena Canonero. She became Milena's assistant designer on 'The Cotton Club' and 'Dick Tracy' and worked as an associate and co-designer before becoming a credited costume designer in her own right on the films 'Gardens of Stone' and 'Big'. She has been associated with two of the most profitable and enjoyed franchises of the early 21st century with the Harry Potter films and the Hunger Games adaptations the latter, reuniting her with 'Big's writer Gary Ross.