Miguel Arteta (born August 29, 1965) is a Puerto Rican filmmaker known for his work in independent cinema and television. His film Chuck & Buck (2000) received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature made for under $500,000, while The Good Girl (2002) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was met with positive critical reception. In television, Arteta has directed episodes for series such as The Office, Succession, and Enlightened. His work on Succession earned him a Directors Guild of America Award nomination.
Early life Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a Peruvian father and Spanish mother, 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017, and was released in June 2017, by Roadside Attractions. 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. It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 20, 2018. and was released on April 27, 2018. The film received mixed reviews from film critics.
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. He directed Yes Day, starring Jennifer Garner and Jenna Ortega for Netflix.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer ExecutiveProducer 1997 Star Maps 2000 Chuck & Buck 2002 The Good Girl 2009 Youth in Revolt Chinatown Film Project 2011 Cedar Rapids 2014 Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 2017 Beatriz at Dinner 2018 Duck Butter 2020 Like a Boss 2021 Yes Day
Producer The Motel (2005)
Actor Year Title Role2004 See This Movie Festival Panelist In Good Company Globecome Technician 2009 Youth in Revolt Illegal Immigrant #2 2015 Digging for Fire Bartender
Short film Year Title Director Writer 1998 Livin' Thing 2005 Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?
Executive Producer Tess and Nana (2008)
Television Year Title Director ExecutiveProducer Episode(s)1999 Homicide: Life on the Street "Zen and the Art of Murder" Snoops "True Believers"2000 Freaks and Geeks "Chokin' and Tokin'" Time of Your Life "The Time She Made a Temporary Decision" 2004 Cracking Up "Birds Do It" 2001–2004 Six Feet Under "The Will""The Liar and the Whore""Terror Starts at Home" 2006 The Office "Diwali" 2007 Ugly Betty "Punch Out" 2009 We Are the Mods 2011 The Big C "Sexual Healing""Boo" How to Make It in America "Mofongo" New Girl "Thanksgiving" American Horror Story "Rubber Man" Enlightened "Now or Never""Someone Else's Life""Comrades Unite!""Burn It Down" 2012 House of Lies "Bareback Town"2012 Nurse Jackie "Day of the Iguana""Chaud & Froid" The New Normal "Nanagasm""The Godparent Trap" 2013 The Carrie Diaries "Pilot" 2013–15 Getting On "Born on the Fourth of July""No Such Thing as Idealized Genitalia""Is Soap a Hazardous Substance?""This Is About Vomit, People.""Don't Let It Get in You or On You""No, I Don't Want a Fucking Smiley Face""Am I Still Me?""Please Partake of a Memorial Orange""Reduced to Eating Boiled Magazines and Book Paste" 2015 Grace & Frankie "The Elevator" 2017 Famous in Love "Pilot"2018 Succession "Austerlitz" Forever "Another Place""Oceanside" 2019 Room 104 "No Hospital" (Also writer) 2021, 2025 The Morning Show "Testimony""Person of Interest""The Parent Trap" 2022 Florida Man "Episode #1.1""Episode #"1.2" 2025 Poker Face "Whack-A-Mole"
TV movies Criminology 101 (2003) Rita (2013) (Also executive producer)
Actor Year Title Role Episode 2013 Enlightened Flender Fan in Bar "Follow Me"
Awards and nominations TitleYearAssociation / CategoryResultsRefStar Maps1997Mar del Plata Film Festival for Best Film — International Competition1998ALMA Award for Outstanding Latino Director of a Feature Film1998Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film (shared with Matthew Greenfield)1998Independent Spirit Award for Best First ScreenplayTime of Your Life2001ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Drama SeriesFreaks and Geeks2001ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Comedy SeriesChuck & Buck2000Deauville Film Festival for Grand Prize Award2000Gijon International Film Festival for Best Feature2000Sundance Film Festival for Grand Jury Prize — Drama2001ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Feature Film2001Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film — Under $500,000 (shared with Mike White & Matthew Greenfield)2001Independent Spirit Award for Best DirectorThe Good Girl2002Deauville Film Festival for Grand Prize Award2002Gijon International Film Festival for Best FeatureSix Feet Under2002OFTA Television Award for Best Direction in a DramaThe Motel2007Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (shared with Michael Kang / Matthew Greenfield / Gian Kwon / Karin Chien)Youth in Revolt2009Deauville Film Festival for Grand Prize AwardHow to Make It in America2012NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series ("Mofongo")Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day2014Heartland Film Award for Truly Moving Picture AwardBeatriz at Dinner2017Imagen Foundation Award for Best DirectorDuck Butter2018Tribeca Film Festival for Best Narrative FeatureRoom 1042020Imagen Foundation Award for Best Director — Television
References
External links
Miguel Arteta's work at Lumen Eclipse Miguel Arteta at IFFR Miguel Arteta Biography