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Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta
Born	August 29, 1965 (age 59); San Juan, Puerto Rico
Education	Harvard University; Wesleyan University (BA); American Film Institute (MFA)
Occupation	Director
Years active	1990-present

Miguel Arteta (born August 29, 1965) is a Puerto Rican^[1] director of film and television, known for his independent film Chuck & Buck (2000), for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and for the films The Good Girl (2002) and Cedar Rapids (2011).

Early life

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a Peruvian father and Spanish mother,^[2] Arteta grew up across Latin America due to his father's job as a Chrysler auto parts salesman. He went to high school in Costa Rica but was expelled, and went to live with his sister in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating from The Cambridge School of Weston in Massachusetts. He then attended Harvard University's documentary program where he learned filmmaking. He eventually left for Wesleyan University, where he met future collaborators Matthew Greenfield and Mike White.

After graduating in 1989, his student film Every Day is a Beautiful Day won a Student Academy Award, which got him a job as a second assistant camera to Jonathan Demme on the documentary Cousin Bobby. Demme then recommended him to the AFI Conservatory, and Arteta received his MFA there in 1993.

Career

Arteta's first film, Star Maps, is a dark tale of a Mexican teenage boy and aspiring actor who is pimped by his father as a male prostitute in Los Angeles.^[3] It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. It was a critical hit, receiving five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay. He then turned to directing television shows, helming episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Freaks and Geeks, and Six Feet Under. He has also since directed episodes of The Office, Ugly Betty, and American Horror Story.

Arteta achieved critical acclaim and won a 2001 Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Under $500,000 for Chuck & Buck, which teamed him with his fellow Wesleyan alumni Greenfield (film producer) and White (screenwriter and star). It is a story of male friendship and homoerotic desire, featuring a 27-year-old man who tracks down his former best friend and stalks him, hoping to re-enact their childhood sex games.^[3] The trio worked together once more on 2002's The Good Girl, starring Jennifer Aniston, a retelling of Flaubert's Madame Bovary set in the American Midwest.^[3]

Arteta's Youth in Revolt, a comedy starring Michael Cera, was released in 2010. Arteta's Cedar Rapids, starring Ed Helms and produced by Alexander Payne, was released in 2011.^[4] Most recently he reunited with White and directed four episodes of White's HBO series Enlightened.

Arteta re-teamed with Mike White on Beatriz at Dinner, which starred Salma Hayek and John Lithgow.^[5] It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017, and was released in June 2017, by Roadside Attractions.^[6]^[7] Arteta next directed Duck Butter, which he co-wrote alongside Alia Shawkat who starred in the film alongside Laia Costa, the film was shot over the course of nine days with the majority being shot over the course of 24 hours.^[8] It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 20, 2018.^[9] and was released on April 27, 2018.^[10] The film received mixed reviews from film critics.^[11]

In 2020, Arteta directed Like a Boss, starring Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne and re-teaming with Hayek, which was released on January 10 by Paramount Pictures.^[12] He directed Yes Day, starring Jennifer Garner and Jenna Ortega for Netflix.^[13]^[14]

Filmography

Director
Year	Title	Notes
1997	Star Maps
1998	Livin' Thing	Short film
1999	Homicide: Life on the Streets	"Zen and the Art of Murder"
1999	Snoops	"True Believers"
2000	Chuck & Buck
2000	Freaks and Geeks	"Chokin' and Tokin' "
2000	Time of Your Life	"The Time She Made a Temporary Decision"
2002	The Good Girl
2003	Criminology 101	TV movie
2004	Cracking Up	"Birds Do It"
2001–2004	Six Feet Under	3 episodes — "The Will" (2001) — "The Liar and the Whore" (2002) — "Terror Starts at Home" (2004)
2005	Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?	Short film
2006	The Office	"Diwali"
2007	Ugly Betty	"Punch Out"
2009	Youth in Revolt
2009	Chinatown Film Project
2011	Cedar Rapids
2011	The Big C	2 episodes — "Sexual Healing" — "Boo"
2011	How to Make It in America	"Mofongo"
2011	New Girl	"Thanksgiving"
2011	American Horror Story	"Rubber Man"
2011	Enlightened	4 episodes — "Now or Never" — "Someone Else's Life" — "Comrades Unite!" — "Burn It Down"
2012	House of Lies	"Bareback Town"
2012	Nurse Jackie	2 episodes — "Day of the Iguana" — "Chaud & Froid"
2012	The New Normal	2 episodes — "Nanagasm" — "The Godparent Trap"
2013	The Carrie Diaries	"Pilot"
2013	Rita	TV movie
2013–15	Getting On	9 episodes — "Born on the Fourth of July" (2013) — "No Such Thing as Idealized Genitalia" (2014) — "Is Soap a Hazardous Substance?" (2014) — "This Is About Vomit, People." (2015) — "Don't Let It Get in You or On You" (2015) — "No, I Don't Want a Fucking Smiley Face" (2015) — "Am I Still Me?" (2015) — "Please Partake of a Memorial Orange" (2015) — "Reduced to Eating Boiled Magazines and Book Paste" (2015)
2014	Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
2015	Grace & Frankie	"The Elevator"
2017	Beatriz at Dinner
2017	Famous in Love	"Pilot"
2018	Duck Butter
2018	Succession	"Austerlitz"
2018	Forever	2 episodes — "Another Place" — "Oceanside"
2019	Room 104	"No Hospital"
2020	Like a Boss
2021	Yes Day
2021	The Morning Show	"Testimony"
2022	Florida Man	2 episodes — "Episode #1.1" — "Episode #"1.2"
Producer
Year	Title	Notes
2005	The Motel
2008	Tess and Nana	Short film (Executive Producer)
2009	We Are the Mods	Executive Producer
2011	Enlightened	Co-Executive Producer (9 episodes)
2013	The Carrie Diaries	Executive Producer
2013	Rita	TV movie (Executive Producer)
2013–15	Getting On	Executive Producer (7 episodes)
2018	Duck Butter	Executive Producer
2021	Yes Day	Executive Producer
2022	Florida Man	Executive Producer (8 episodes)
Actor
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	See This Movie	Festival Panelist
2004	In Good Company	Globecome Technician
2009	Youth in Revolt	Illegal Immigrant #2
2013	Enlightened	Flender Fan in Bar	"Follow Me"
2015	Digging for Fire	Bartender
Writer
Year	Title	Notes
1997	Star Maps	screenplay / story
1998	Livin' Thing	Short film
2018	Duck Butter
2019	Room 104	"No Hospital"

Awards and nominations

Accolades

Title	Year	Association / Category	Results	Ref
Star Maps	1997	Mar del Plata Film Festival for Best Film — International Competition	Nominated
	1998	ALMA Award for Outstanding Latino Director of a Feature Film	Nominated	^[15]
	1998	Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film (shared with Matthew Greenfield)	Nominated	^[16]
	1998	Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay	Nominated
Time of Your Life	2001	ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Drama Series	Nominated	^[17]
Freaks and Geeks	2001	ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Comedy Series	Nominated	^[17]
Chuck & Buck	2000	Deauville Film Festival for Grand Prize Award	Nominated
	2000	Gijon International Film Festival for Best Feature	Nominated
	2000	Sundance Film Festival for Grand Jury Prize — Drama	Nominated
	2001	ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Feature Film	Nominated	^[17]
	2001	Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film — Under $500,000 (shared with Mike White & Matthew Greenfield)	Won	^[18]
	2001	Independent Spirit Award for Best Director	Nominated	^[18]
The Good Girl	2002	Deauville Film Festival for Grand Prize Award	Nominated
The Good Girl	2002	Gijon International Film Festival for Best Feature	Nominated
Six Feet Under	2002	OFTA Television Award for Best Direction in a Drama	Nominated	^[19]
The Motel	2007	Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (shared with Michael Kang / Matthew Greenfield / Gian Kwon / Karin Chien)	Nominated	^[20]
Youth in Revolt	2009	Deauville Film Festival for Grand Prize Award	Nominated
How to Make It in America	2012	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series ("Mofongo")	Nominated
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day	2014	Heartland Film Award for Truly Moving Picture Award	Won
Beatriz at Dinner	2017	Imagen Foundation Award for Best Director	Won
Duck Butter	2018	Tribeca Film Festival for Best Narrative Feature	Nominated
Room 104	2020	Imagen Foundation Award for Best Director — Television	Nominated