Michael Engler Biography

Michael Engler is an American theater director, and a Director's Guild of America and Emmy nominated television director and producer.

Theater

His Broadway credits include Eastern Standard, starring Dylan Baker, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Conroy, and Anne Meara, as well as Mastergate, written by Larry Gelbart, and I Hate Hamlet, written by Paul Rudnick and starring Evan Handler and Alan Arkin.

His direction of the 2003 off-Broadway production of the Alan Bennett play Talking Heads garnered him a nomination for the Outer Critics Circle Award.

Film And Television

1990s

Engler began his career in television with the TV movie Mastergate (1992) based on the play he directed by Larry Gelbart. The following year he worked on the television series Bakersfield P.D., starring Ron Eldard, Giancarlo Esposito, and Brian Doyle Murray, as well as the series Sisters, starring Swoosie Kurtz and Sela Ward.

In 1993 and 1994 Engler directed two episodes of the HBO series Dream On, created by David Crane and Marta Kaufmann, and starring Brian Benben and Wendie Malick, as well as an episode of the Claire Danes starrer My So-Called Life, and began directing what would become fifteen episodes of the series Party of Five, on which he was also a producer. The series starred Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

In 1995 Engler worked on the Mary Tyler Moore series New York News and Under One Roof, starring James Earl Jones, followed by the David E. Kelley series Chicago Hope in 1996, as well as the TV series Profit, starring Adrian Pasdar in 1997.

In 1998 Engler wrote and directed the short film The Victim. In the same year he worked on the short-lived series Significant Others, starring Jennifer Garner, and Cupid, starring Jeremy Piven. Engler wrapped up the 1990s with Time of Your Life, a spin-off of Party of Five. Engler served as a consulting producer on Cupid and a co-executive producer on Time of Your Life.

2000s

Engler began the decade with the series Once and Again, starring Sela Ward, Billy Campbell, Evan Rachel Wood, and Shane West, followed by the Aaron Sorkin drama The West Wing, the HBO series Six Feet Under, starring Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall, Hidden Hills, and the series My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star starring Oliver Hudson, two episodes of Watching Ellie and an episode of Do Over.

In 2001 Engler began directing for the HBO series Sex and the City for which he would go on to earn one Emmy nomination and two Directors Guild of American nominations.

In 2004 Engler directed an episode of the series Keen Eddie, starring Mark Valley and Sienna Miller, followed by an episode of the HBO series Deadwood, starring Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane. Followed by Life As We Know It, which he co-executive produced, and the TV movie Twenty Questions which he also executive produced, and the series The PTA. In 2006, Engler directed the pilot episode for the USA series Psych.

In 2007 Engler directed for the series 12 Miles of Bad Road, starring Lily Tomlin, followed by the TV movies Two Families and Single with Parents, starring Beau Bridges, and the series Privileged, for which Engler served as executive producer on the pilot episode. Engler ended the decade with the TV movie Lost and Found, featuring Brian Cox.

Beginning in 2007, Engler directed eleven episodes of the NBC series 30 Rock, for which he was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award and an Emmy for directing the episode Rosemary's Baby.

2010s

Engler began the decade by directing two episodes of the NBC series Parenthood in 2010, and The Big C, starring Laura Linney, for which Engler was an executive producer. He followed with an episode of Go On, starring Matthew Perry and Nashville, starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, both in 2012. In 2013 Engler directed the pilot episode for the series Welcome to the Family, starring Ricardo Chavira and Mike O'Malley.

Director Filmography

Year	Title	Notes
1992	Mastergate	TV Movie
1992 1993	Sisters	The Best Seats In The House Out of the Ashes Sleepless in Winnetka
1993	Baker's Field P.D.	A Bullet For Stiles
1993 1994	Dream On	One Ball, Two Strikes Blame it on Reo
1994	My So-Called Life	Self-Esteem
1994 1998	Party of Five	Also executive producer Thanksgiving Games People Play It's Not Easy Being Green Dearly Beloved Unfair Advantage Altered States Going, Going, Gone Personal Demons Desperate Measures I Declare Point of No Return You Win Some, You Lose Some What a Drag Positive Attitude Fools Rush Out
1995	New York News	Past Imperfect
1995	Under One Roof	Ronnie's Got A Gun
1996	Chicago Hope	Sweet Surrender
1997	Profit	Security
1998	The Victim	Also writer Short Film
1998	Significant Others	The Next Big Thing Matters of Gravity
1998	Cupid	Also consulting producer Heaven... He's In Heaven Heart of the Matter
1999	Time of Your Life	Also co-executive producer The Time She Came To New York The Time She Got Mobbed The Time The Truth Was Told The Time They Got E-Rotic The Time They Cheated The Time They Broke The Law
2000 2001	Once And Again	Ozymandias 2.0 Love's Laborer's Lost The Awful Truth Acting Out
2001	The West Wing	Ellie
2001 2003	Six Feet Under	The Trip In Place of Anger I'll Take You The Eye Inside
2001 2004	Sex and the City	Time and Punishment My Motherboard, Myself The Big Journey I Love a Charade Lights, Camera, Relationship Hop, Skip, and a Week Catch-38 Out of the Frying Pan
2002	My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star	Fame The Road Gig Pay to Play
2002	Watching Ellie	Cheetos Tango
2002	Hidden Hills	The Mark of Manolo Halloween
2002	Do Over	Hot For Teacher
2004	Keen Eddie	Inciting Incident
2004	Deadwood	Bullock Returns to the Camp
2004 2005	Life As We Know It	Also co-executive producer Pilot Pilot Junior The Best Laid Plans A Little Problem
2006	Twenty Questions	Also executive producer TV movie
2006	The PTA
2006	Psych	Pilot
2007	12 Miles of Bad Road	Pilot
2007	Two Families	TV Movie
2007 2012	30 Rock	The Baby Show Up All Night Jack Gets In The Game Rosemary's Baby Cougars Secrets and Lies Brooklyn Without Limits Hey, Baby, What's Wrong? Part 1 Hey, Baby, What's Wrong? Part 2 What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year? Stride of Pride
2008	Single with Parents	TV movie
2008	Privileged	Also executive producer (pilot only) Pilot All About Honesty All About Insecurities All About Love, Actually
2009	Lost and Found	TV movie
2010	Parenthood	Wassup The Situation
2010 2013	The Big C	Also executive producer Summertime There's No C in Team Everything That Rises Must Converge Taking the Plunge Losing Patients Musical Chairs Goldilocks and the Bears The Last Thanksgiving Crossing the Line Thin Ice" What's Your Story? Vaya Con Dios Fly Away Quality of Life The Finale
2012	Go On	Do You Believe in Ghosts ... Yes!
2012	Nashville	Someday You'll Call My Name
2013	Welcome to the Family	Pilot
2015	Empire	Out, Damned Spot