Hamri attended the American School of Tangier, where her mother worked. The school was not gender balanced, and at one point, Hamri was the sole female student at her high school and was the only girl on the soccer team. Hamri won a scholarship in 1992 to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. In college she studied theatre arts. Hamri spent her junior year of college in Paris, and in 1996 graduated from Sarah Lawrence College.

Hamri is multi-lingual as she spoke English, French, Spanish, and a Moroccan dialect growing up. In 2000, Hamri had a daughter, Laila Hamri Fletcher, whose father is Loyst P. Fletcher, a Los Angeles attorney.

In March 2005, production began on Hamri's first feature, the Focus Features film, Something New, a romantic comedy starring Sanaa Lathan (Brown Sugar, Alien vs. Predator) and Simon Baker (The Ring Two, L.A. Confidential). The film was released on January 29, 2006. Stephanie Allain produced the film through her company, Homegrown Pictures. The film grossed $11,483,669 million and received generally positive reviews.

Hamri's second film as Director was 2008's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, with America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively, which was released on August 6, 2008. The film grossed $44,352,417 and received generally favorable reviews.

In 2010, Hamri directed Just Wright with Queen Latifah and Common, which was released on May 14, 2010. The film grossed $21,570,263 million and received mixed reviews.

Sayeed, a well-renowned video Producer, was impressed by Hamri's work, and showed it to Mariah Carey, who subsequently hired Hamri to direct her video. Sayeed also gave Hamri her first editing job for a reggae – hip hop fusion group called Born Jamericans. Her career then began to skyrocket, and Hamri was on her way towards leaving her mark in Hollywood.