Michael Cuesta

Michael Cuesta (born July 8, 1963) is an American film and television director, best known for his independent films, specially for having co-written and directed the 2001 film, L.I.E. He has directed and produced television series including Six Feet Under, Dexter, Blue Bloods and Homeland.

Michael Cuesta
Cuesta interviewed by Sidewalks Entertainment in 2014
Born (1963-07-08) July 8, 1963
New York City, New York, United States
OccupationFilm director, television director, screenwriter
Years active2001 – present

Life and career

Cuesta was born in New York City. 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 International 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, creator and show runner of Six Feet Under.

Cuesta would have executive produced Babylon Fields, a CBS television series about zombies proposed for the 2007–2008 season. The show was not picked up.[1] In 2013 NBC bought the rights to Babylon Fields,[2] choosing Michael Cuesta as the director because of his familiarity with the prior pilot. A pilot was filmed in 2014 but the show was not picked up.

Cuesta directed and executive produced the pilot episode for CBS drama Blue Bloods in 2010.[3] 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".[4]

He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for directing Homeland's Pilot episode.[5]

In 2011, he directed the film Roadie starring Ron Eldard as a man who returns home to Queens, NY after twenty years on the road with Blue Öyster Cult. Co-written with his brother Gerald Cuesta and featuring supporting roles by Jill Hennessy, Bobby Cannavale, Lois Smith and David Margulies, the film was screened at the Stony Brook Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival and Austin Film Festival in 2011. It was released by Magnolia Pictures on January 6, 2012.[6]

In February 2013 Cuesta was set up to direct the film Kill the Messenger for 2014 release date, Jeremy Renner will be leading the film. Filming started in the summer of 2013 in Atlanta.[7] In January 2015 was named as the director, of the pilot episode of Fox Television Studios drama horror series Frankenstein,[8] based on Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.[9]

Filmography

Director

Producer

YearShowRoleNotes
2006 Dexter Co-executive producer Season 1
2007 Babylon Fields Executive producer Pilot only
2008 The Oaks Executive producer Pilot only
2010 Blue Bloods Executive producer Pilot only
2011-12 Homeland Executive producer Season 1-2
2016 Second Chance Executive producer Pilot Episode only
2019 City on a Hill Executive producer Pilot episode only

Director

YearShowSeasonEpisode titleEpisodeOriginal airdateNotes
2002 Six Feet Under 2 "Driving Mr. Mossback" 4 March 24, 2002
"Someone Else's Eyes" 9 April 28, 2002
2003 3 "You Never Know" 2 March 9, 2003
2004 4 "Falling Into Place" 1 June 13, 2004
2005 5 "Static" 11 August 14, 2005
2006 Dexter 1 "Dexter" 1 October 1, 2006 Pilot episode
"Crocodile" 2 October 8, 2006
"Popping Cherry" 3 October 15, 2006
"Seeing Red" 10 December 3, 2006
"Born Free" 12 December 17, 2006 Season finale
2007 Babylon Fields 1 "Pilot" (CBS) 1 Unaired
2008 The Oaks 1 "Amelia" 1 October, 2008 Pilot episode
2009 True Blood 2 "Beyond Here Lies Nothin' 12 September 13, 2009 Season finale
2010 Blue Bloods 1 "Pilot" 1 September 24, 2010 Pilot epiosode
"Chinatown" 8 November 12, 2010
2011 Homeland 1 "Pilot" 1 October 2, 2011 Pilot episode
"Grace" 2 October 9, 2011
"The Weekend" 7 November 13, 2011
"Marine One" 12 December 18, 2011 Season finale
2012 Elementary 1 "Pilot" 1 September 27, 2012 Pilot episode
Homeland 2 "The Smile" 1 September 30, 2012
"Beirut Is Back" 2 October 7, 2012
"I’ll Fly Away" 8 November 18, 2012
"The Choice" 12 December 16, 2012 Season finale
2014 Babylon Fields 1 "Pilot" (NBC) 1 Unaired
2016 Second Chance 1 "A Suitable Donor" 1 January 13, 2016 Pilot episode
Billions 1 "The Conversation" 13 April 10, 2016
2019 City on a Hill 1 "The Night Flynn Sent the Cops on the Ice" 1 June 30, 2019 Pilot episode

References

  1. Hibberd, James. "'Babylon Fields'—CBS' Buried Zombie Necrophilia Pilot Unearthed." TVWeek.com. October 15, 2007. Accessed August 23, 2008.
  2. deadline.com/2013/10/babylon-fields-pilot-nbc-612724/
  3. Michael Cuesta (director), Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess (writers) (September 24, 2010). "Pilot". Blue Bloods. Season 1. Episode 1. CBS.
  4. Michael Cuesta (director), Diana Son (writer) (November 12, 2010). "Chinatown". Blue Bloods. Season 1. Episode 8. CBS.
  5. "404 Page Not Found". Retrieved September 24, 2016. Cite uses generic title (help)
  6. "Roadie". January 6, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2016 via IMDb.
  7. "Jeremy Renner's 'Kill The Messenger' Acquired By Focus Features For WW Distribution On Journo Gary Webb Saga". deadline.com. February 5, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  8. "Director Found for Fox's Frankenstein Pilot". dreadcentral.com. January 30, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  9. "Michael Cuesta To Direct 'Frankenstein' Fox Pilot". deadline.com. January 29, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
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