The elder of Basil Poledouris' two daughters, Zoë was born on August 25, 1973 in Los Angeles. Zoë grew up interpreting her father's music with movement on ice as a competitive figure skater. At the age of nine years, she performed a piece on the recorder for her father which became the melody for "the orgy", which was featured in Conan (1982). Zoë received co-writing credit and become one of the youngest members of BMI. Following her graduation from Bennington College, Zoë presented demos of her songs to friend and film composer Christopher Tyng, who helped to further produce her songs. One of these songs, a curious dance number called "Into It", was chosen by director Paul Verhoeven to be performed in yıldız Gemisi askerleri (1997), a film in which Zoë also makes a cameo appearance with Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards. Other films that feature samples of Zoë's work include Cecil B. Demented (2000) and Shadow of Doubt (1998). Down and Out with the Dolls (2001) not only features Zoë's score music but also features her in a starring role.