Michelle Maxwell MacLaren is a Canadian television director and producer. She has directed episodes of ''

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 original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'', ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

'', ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'', '' The Walking Dead'', ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'', and ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

''. MacLaren won two back-to-back

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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s for producing ''

'' in 2013 and 2014.

Early life

MacLaren grew up in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. She graduated from Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

. MacLaren is a cousin of television anchor Ashleigh Banfield.

Career

MacLaren made her

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

on the season nine episode of ''The X-Files'', "

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...

", which was written by her future ''

'' collaborator

Vince Gilligan George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He is best known as the creator, primary writer, executive producer, and occasional director of the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Brea ...

. She approaches shooting action sequences as mathematical deconstruction and likes using multiple cameras and wide lenses. She was nominated for six

s, all for ''Breaking Bad'': one for directing the episode " One Minute" (season 3, episode 7) in 2010, one for directing the episode " Gliding Over All" (season 5, episode 8) in 2013, and the other four in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 for Outstanding Drama Series, on which she served as an executive producer, winning in 2013 and 2014. She was also nominated for three Producers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Drama for ''Breaking Bad'', winning in 2014 and 2015. On the tenth anniversary of the premiere of ''Breaking Bad'',

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

singled out MacLaren among the breakout directors on the series as the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

, noting she directed 11 episodes, more than any other director. In June 2014, it was announced MacLaren had signed a two-year first-look deal with

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. In November 2014, it was announced that MacLaren would develop the script and direct ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'', the iconic character's first solo cinematic appearance and the fourth installment of the

DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comic ...

. However, in April 2015 MacLaren left the project due to "creative differences". She was the executive producer of and directed the pilot for David Simon's

drama '' The Deuce''. She was the first director hired and established the overall 1970s tone and style of the show. In August 2016, it was announced that MacLaren would direct the film adaptation of

Kristin Hannah Kristin Hannah (born September 25, 1960) is an Americans, American writer. Her most notable works include ''Winter Garden'', ''The Nightingale (Hannah novel), The Nightingale'', ''Firefly Lane (novel), Firefly Lane'', ''The Great Alone'', and ''T ...

's novel '' The Nightingale''. She was attracted to the prospect of directing ''The Nightingale'' because it is a "muscular" project and the female characters are unsuspecting heroes. The same year she also directed the ninth episode of the

series ''

''. When the directors of the final season of ''Game of Thrones'' were announced, several prominent news sites, including ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' and ''

Nerdist Nerdist Industries, LLC (also simply known as Nerdist) is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast ( The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a net ...

'', expressed disappointment that MacLaren, the only woman to direct on the series, was not included. In December 2017, MacLaren visited the Dubai International Film Festival as a guest of

OSN Orbit Showtime Network, commonly known as OSN, is a Dubai-based Satellite television, satellite TV company, serving the Middle East and North Africa region. OSN mainly broadcasts programming from TV networks owned by Paramount Global, Warner B ...

. On January 31, 2018, MacLaren was confirmed as director for the film '' Cowboy Ninja Viking''. She is developing a miniseries for HBO with ''Breaking Bad'' co-producer Vince Gilligan called ''Raven'', based on the Jonestown massacre.

Filmography

Film * '' Population 436'' (2006) TV series TV movies

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards Producers Guild of America

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaren, Michelle Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian television producers Canadian women television producers Canadian television directors Living people Mass media people from Vancouver Queen's University at Kingston alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women television directors