The Good Girl

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 Cedar Rapids (2011).

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.

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 latest project, Cedar Rapids, starring Ed Helms and produced by Alexander Payne, was released in 2011. —Wikipedia