| Michael Cuesta | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 8, 1963 New York City, New York, |
| Occupation | Film/television director |
| Years active | 2001 – present |
Michael Cuesta (Born July 8, 1963 in New York) is an American film and television director. Cuesta co-wrote and directed the 2001 independent film, L.I.E.. He has directed and produced television series including Six Feet Under, Dexter, Blue Bloods and Homeland.
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He received a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in 1985. Cuesta co-wrote (with Stephen Ryder and Gerald Cuesta) and directed the 2001 independent film, L.I.E. which starred Paul Dano, Brian Cox, Billy Kay, and Bruce Altman. L.I.E. received critical acclaim and two Independent Spirit Awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
His film L.I.E. led him to become a regular director for the HBO original series, Six Feet Under which aired from 2001–05. According to executive producer Alan Poul, "During the second season, we had hired a director for the fourth episode, but he fell out one week before the start of pre-production. Alan Ball and I were alarmed, but that night we went to see L.I.E., and it was a revelation. The next morning we booked Michael. He's a fantastic fit for the show." Michael Cuesta became a regular director during the 2002 season of Six Feet Under and directed five episodes of the series including the fourth season premiere, "Falling Into Place".
In addition to Six Feet Under and L.I.E., Cuesta has also directed the film, 12 and Holding, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005 and was released by IFC Films theatrically in 2006. Other projects include an adaptation of the novel, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint.
In 2006 Cuesta directed the pilot episode of the Showtime series, Dexter. The show reunited him with former Six Feet Under star Michael C. Hall in the lead role, Dexter Morgan. Cuesta joined the production staff for the first season and also directed further episodes including the season finale. He left the crew at the end of the first season.
He also directed the second season finale for the HBO series True Blood which was created and executive produced by Alan Ball. Ball was the creator and show runner of Six Feet Under.
Cuesta would have executive produced Babylon Fields, a television series about zombies proposed for the 2007–2008 season. The show was not picked up.[1]
Cuesta directed and executive produced the pilot episode for CBS drama Blue Bloods in 2010.[2] The series was created by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess and focuses on a family of New York police officers. He returned to direct the eighth episode of the first season "Chinatown".[3]
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Blue Bloods | Executive producer | Pilot only |
| 2008 | The Oaks | Executive producer | Pilot only |
| 2007 | Babylon Fields | Executive producer | Pilot only |
| 2006 | Dexter | Co-executive producer | Season 1 |
| Year | Show | Season | Episode title | Episode | Original airdate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Homeland | 1 | "The Weekend" | 7 | 13 November 2011 | |
| "Grace" | 2 | 9 October 2011 | ||||
| "Pilot" | 1 | 2 October 2011 | ||||
| 2010 | Blue Bloods | 1 | "Chinatown" | 8 | 12 November 2010 | |
| "Pilot" | 1 | 24 September 2010 | ||||
| 2009 | True Blood | 2 | "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" | 12 | 13 September 2009 | Season finale |
| 2008 | The Oaks | 1 | "Amelia" | 1 | October 2008 | Pilot episode |
| 2007 | Babylon Fields | 1 | "Pilot" | 1 | Unaired | |
| 2006 | Dexter | 1 | "Born Free" | 12 | 17 December 2006 | Season finale |
| "Seeing Red" | 10 | 3 December 2006 | ||||
| "Popping Cherry" | 3 | 15 October 2006 | ||||
| "Crocodile" | 2 | 8 October 2006 | ||||
| "Dexter" | 1 | 1 October 2006 | Pilot episode | |||
| 2005 | Six Feet Under | 5 | "Static" | 11 | 14 August 2005 | |
| 2004 | 4 | "Falling into Place" | 1 | 13 June 2004 | ||
| 2003 | 3 | "You Never Know" | 2 | 9 March 2003 | ||
| 2002 | 2 | "Someone Else's Eyes" | 9 | 28 April 2002 | ||
| "Driving Mr. Mossback" | 4 | 24 March 2002 |