Director

Background:

Grammy nominated director Marcos Siega entered show business as part of the New York based punk group Bad Trip before beginning his career as a director. He was nominated for three MTV Music Video Awards and a Grammy Award for helming the 2000 video clips “All The Small Things” by Blink-1982, and “Broken Home” by Papa Roach, respectively. He has also worked with many other artists, including P.O.D., Kelly Osbourne, System Of A Down, All American Rejects and Anthrax. In 2005, Siega made an auspicious debut as a movie director with the Sundance screened “Pretty Persuasion,” from which he picked up a Sundance Grand Jury Prize nomination, a Deauville Festival Grand Special Prize nomination and an Oldenburg Film Festival Award. He also directed “The Underclassman” (2005) and “Chaos Theory” (2007) and executive produced “Drive Thru” (2007). As a TV director, Siega has worked in such noted series as “Veronica Mars,” “Cold Case” and “Dexter” (2007 - 2009) and is currently a director and producer of the series “The Vampire Diaries” (2010), which stars Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. In 2010, the series won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama.

Queens

Childhood and Family:

Marcos Siega was born on June 8, 1969, in Queens, New York City, New York.

Dexter

Career:

Marcos Siega began his career with Bad Trip, a punk group based in New York. During his eight years with the band, he released two full length albums, a number of EP's and toured throughout the country. Siega then tried his hand at directing music videos and directed clips for such artists as Bif Naked, Peter Cearcy, P.O.D., Goldfinger, System of a Down, Quicksand, Anthrax, Toad the Wet Sprocket, C.O.C., Blink-182, 311 and Papa Roach, among others.

Siega's hard work paid off in 2000 when his video for Blink-1982's “All The Small Things” brought him three nominations at the MTV Music Video Awards, including Video Of The Year. Also that year, the director received a Grammy nomination for his Papa Roach video “Broken Home.” With such impressive accomplishments, Siega began his partnership with the noted commercial production company Hungryman Films in 2001.

In addition to directing music videos and commercials, Siega branched out to film and television. In 1999, he produced and directed a short film called “Stung,” which was written by Tracy McArdle and starred Damon Shalit, Vincent Marotta and Carlos Molina. He went on to co-direct the music series “Rock the House” in 2002, which he also executive produced, and helm two episodes of the short lived series “Fastlane” called “Ray Ray” (2002) and “Defense” (2003). He also directed the Fox comedy series “Oliver Beene,” which ran from 2003 to 2004. The show was nominated for a 2003 Teen Choice award for Choice TV Breakout Show and a 2004 GLAAD Media for Outstanding Comedy Series.

In 2005, Siega made his feature directorial debut with the Skander Halim written “Pretty Persuasion,” a movie about a manipulative high school sophomore who accuses her teacher of sexual assault. Starring Evan Rachel Wood, James Woods, Jane Krakowski and Elisabeth Harnois, the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2005, and became a hit at the Seattle International Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival before receiving a limited theatrical release in August 2005. For his effort, Siega netted a German Independence Award at the Oldenburg Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize-Dramatic at Sundance and the Grand Special Prize at the 2005 Deauville Film Festival.

Still in 2005, Siega directed an action comedy for Miramax called “The Underclassman,” which was co-scripted by Brent Goldberg and David Wagner and starred Nick Cannon and Kelly Hu. Despite his good directing, the film was considered a flop. Siega also directed the TV series “Eyes” (2005), three episodes of the Kristen Bell vehicle “Veronica Mars” (2004-2005) and two episodes of “Cold Case” (2005-2006).

Siega returned to movies with “Chaos Theory,” which was released for the European market in early 2007 and America in April 2008. The film starred Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, Stuart Townsend, Sarah Chalke and Mike Erwin and was written by Daniel Taplitz. 2007 also saw Siega executive produce “Drive Thru,” a comedy co-directed and co-written by Brendan Cowles and Shane Kuhn. He also directed episodes of “Traveler,” “The Nine,” “Shark,” “Life” and “Dexter” (2007 - 2009).

In 2008, as one of the founders of Prospect Pictures, a television and film production company based in Los Angeles, Siega helmed an episode of “October Road” called “We Lived Like Giant.” He also served as an executive producer for the comedy “Barry Munday” (2010) and is currently a director and producer of the series “The Vampire Diaries” (2010), which stars Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. In 2010, the series won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama.

Awards:

• Oldenburg Film Festival: German Independence Award, “Pretty Persuasion,” 2005