Miguel Arteta

Bio

Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican film and television director best known for his films Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, and most recently, Beatriz at Dinner. His next film is the experimental comedy Duck Butter, starring Alia Shawkat. Here Arteta recounts the practical education he received on movie sets working with the likes of Sidney Lumet, Sydney Pollack, and Jonathan Demme. “His curiosity and the way he was just actively responding, like letting himself respond in a joyful way to people and to situations, was incredible,” says Arteta of Demme. “He was directing, not controlling. He was responding. If you control it then it’s going to be a boring movie. You have to respond so that you feel there’s life beyond the frame. The audience feels like they’re coming on an exploration with you.”