David Nutter (born 1960) is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing

pilot episodes A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for television. In 2015, he received a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for his work on the HBO series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

''.

Early life and education

Nutter was born in 1960. He graduated from

Dunedin High School Dunedin High School is a high school in Dunedin, Florida, United States. It is operated by the Pinellas County School Board. The school mascot is Freddie the Falcon. The official school colors are red and white, though red and black have become ...

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and i ...

, in 1978. He subsequently graduated from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, where he originally enrolled as a music major.David Nutter: the networks' head starter
Caroline Parry. The Broadcast Interview. Broadcastnow.co.uk. Media Business Insight Limited. September 23, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2015

Career

Nutter started his career directing episodes of ''

Superboy Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comicbooks published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series featuring ...

'' and ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''. From there he would go on to direct the pilot and help with the creation of '' Space: Above and Beyond'', ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannus, kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

'', '' Sleepwalkers'', '' Roswell'', '' Dark Angel'', ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/G ...

'', ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'', ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'', ''

Dr. Vegas ''Dr. Vegas'' is an American drama television series created by John Herzfeld and Jack Orman, starring Rob Lowe and Joe Pantoliano that ran on CBS from September 24, 2004 to September 6, 2006. It aired in Ireland on TG4, and on Challenge in ...

'', ''

Jack & Bobby ''Jack & Bobby'' is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti, Vanessa Taylor, Steven A. Cohen, and Brad Meltzer. It aired on The WB from September 12, 2004, to May 11, 2005. The series’ title is a reference to real-life po ...

'', ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'', '' Traveler'', '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show f ...

'', and '' Shameless''. He also directed " Replacements", the fourth part of the mini-series '' Band of Brothers'', and shared in that series's

for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special. Other directing highlights include " Join the Club", an Emmy-nominated episode of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'', and the 1998 feature film ''

Disturbing Behavior ''Disturbing Behavior'' is a 1998 teen science fiction psychological horror film starring James Marsden, Katie Holmes, and Nick Stahl. The film was directed by David Nutter, who was a director and producer on ''The X-Files'', and the screenplay ...

''. Nutter directed 10 episodes of the HBO series ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'', including " The Resurrection", " The Prince's Bride" and the series finale, "

The End The End may refer to: Films * ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine * ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds * ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997 * ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...

". In 2008, LG used Nutter's pilot expertise to create a campaign for its new "Scarlet" line of

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

s, by creating a promotional clip in the style of a trailer for a TV pilot. In 2011, Nutter directed the pilot of

Rina Mimoun Rina Mimoun is an American television writer and producer. Career Mimoun's career began at the age of 21 with a Writers Guild of America internship on the Fox comedy ''Ned and Stacey'' and a first staff writer job on the UPN sitcom ''Guys Lik ...

's ''The Doctor'', for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. In 2012, Nutter directed "

The Old Gods and the New "The Old Gods and the New" is the sixth episode of the second season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones''. The 16th episode of the series overall, "The Old Gods and the New" was written by Vanessa Taylor and directed ...

" and " A Man Without Honor", two episodes of the second season of the HBO series ''

''. In 2013, he directed the last two episodes of the third season, " The Rains of Castamere" (with the infamous "Red Wedding" sequence) and " Mhysa". Nutter also directed the pilot of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

series ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ...

'', based on the comic-book character

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His real name is Oliver Jonas Quee ...

, starring

Stephen Amell Stephen Adam Amell (born May 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on The CW superhero series ''Arrow'' (2012–2020). Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along wi ...

. In 2015, he returned to the series ''Game of Thrones'' to direct the last two episodes of the fifth season, " The Dance of Dragons" and "

Mother's Mercy "Mother's Mercy" is the fifth season finale episode of HBO's fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones'', and the 50th overall. The tenth and final episode of the fifth season, the episode was written by the series creators David Benioff and D ...

". For the latter, he received a

for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. In 2015, Nutter experienced a major injury that required several back surgeries, and had to skip directing any episodes of the next two seasons of ''Game of Thrones'' while he recovered. In September 2017, it was announced that Nutter would return to direct at least two episodes of the eighth season of ''Game of Thrones'', alongside

Miguel Sapochnik Miguel Sapochnik (born 1 July 1974) is an English film and television director of Argentine origin, and former storyboard artist. For his work as a director on the HBO epic fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'', he won the award for Outstanding ...

David Benioff David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American writer, director and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known as co-creator and showrunner of '' Game of Thrones'' (2 ...

and D. B. Weiss for the remainder of the episodes. It was later confirmed that Nutter would direct three episodes, which includes the first,

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

, and fourth episodes of the eighth season. In May 2021, it was announced that Nutter would direct all the six episodes of HBO series, ''

The Time Traveller's Wife ''The Time Traveler's Wife'' is the debut novel by American author Audrey Niffenegger, published in 2003. It is a love story about Henry, a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably, and about Clare, his wife, an ...

''.

List of directed pilots

The first sixteen pilots directed by Nutter all went to series. This streak was broken in 2011 when

chose to not pick up

's ''The Doctor''. * '' Space: Above and Beyond'' (1995) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Sleepwalkers'' (1997) * '' Roswell'' (1999) * '' Dark Angel'' (2000) * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2005) * '' Traveler'' (2006) * '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008) * '' Eastwick'' (2009) * ''

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase C ...

'' (2010) * ''The Doctor'' (2011) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'' (2014) * ''

Deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

'' (2018)

Personal life

Nutter was married to his wife, Birgit, from 1987 until her death from cancer in 2019.David Nutter: The X-Files Mark His Success
''St. Petersburg Times/The Tampa Bay Times''. Joni M. Fisher. 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015 They have two children, actress Zoe K. Nutter and Ben Nutter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nutter, David 1960 births American television directors Directors Guild of America Award winners Dunedin High School alumni Film directors from Florida Hugo Award winners Living people People from Dunedin, Florida Place of birth missing (living people) Primetime Emmy Award winners University of Miami alumni Television producers from Florida