Michael Cuesta

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Michael Cuesta (Born July 8, 1963) is an American film screenwriter and director. He received a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in 1985.

Cuesta wrote 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. actually led him to become a veteran director for the HBO original series, Six Feet Under which aired from 2001-2005. 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 has 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 will be released by IFC Films theatrically in 2006 and is in the process of adapting the novel, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint into a film which is set to premiere in 2006. Cuesta also directed numerous episodes for the Showtime series, Dexter, including the pilot and the finale of the first season. The show features Six Feet Under star Michael C. Hall in the lead role.