Quick Facts
Biography
Miguel Arteta (born 1965) is a Puerto Rican 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, Arteta grew up all over 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 American Film Institute, and Arteta received his MFA there in 1993.
Career
Arteta's first film, Star Maps, 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 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). The trio worked together once more on 2002's The Good Girl, starring Jennifer Aniston.
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.
Filmography
| Year | Title | With | Notes | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Star Maps | Douglas Spain | National Board of Review - Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay Nominated - ALMA Award for Outstanding Latino Director of a Feature Film | 31% |
| 2000 | Chuck & Buck | Mike White, Chris Weitz, Lupe Ontiveros, Maya Rudolph | Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature - Under $500,000 National Board of Review - Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking Nominated - Sundance Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize : Dramatic Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Nominated - Deauville Film Festival for Grand Special Prize Nominated - BIFA Award for Best Foreign Independent Film Nominated - ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Feature Film Nominated - Gijón International Film Festival for Best Feature | 85% |
| 2002 | The Good Girl | Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly, Tim Blake Nelson, Zooey Deschanel, Mike White, Aimee Garcia | National Board of Review - Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking Nominated - Deauville Film Festival for Grand Special Prize Nominated - Golden Trailer Awards for Best Drama Nominated - Gijón International Film Festival for Best Feature | 81% |
| 2010 | Youth in Revolt | Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart, Mary Kay Place, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi, M. Emmet Walsh, Jonathan B. Wright, Erik Knudsen, Fred Willard, Ari Graynor, Rooney Mara | National Board of Review - Top Independent Films | 66% |
| 2011 | Cedar Rapids | Ed Helms, Anne Heche, John C. Reilly, Stephen Root, Kurtwood Smith, Alia Shawkat, Rob Corddry, Mike O'Malley, Sigourney Weaver, Thomas Lennon, Mike Birbiglia | National Board of Review - Top Ten Independent Films | 85% |
| 2014 | Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day | Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Dylan Minnette, Bella Thorne, Megan Mullally, Jennifer Coolidge | National Board of Review | 62% |
| 2017 | Beatriz at Dinner | Salma Hayek, Chloë Sevigny, Connie Britton, Jay Duplass, Nina Arianda, John Lithgow | ||
| TBA | All the Bright Places | Elle Fanning |