Douglas Aarniokoski is an American television director and producer.
He is well known for his work on the CBS series Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Criminal Minds, S.W.A.T., and The CW superhero drama Arrow. He has also worked on FOX supernatural series Sleepy Hollow.
Career Aarniokoski got his start as a production assistant on Rambo 3. He continued as production assistant on Turner & Hooch and as a personal assistant to Tom Cruise on his 1990 film Days of Thunder. He then worked on the 1992 horror feature Doctor Mordrid, as the first assistant director. He went on to serve as assistant director on several other films such as From Dusk till Dawn, Living Out Loud, The Faculty, and Spy Kids.
Later he began serving as a second unit director for features such as The Medallion, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and Resident Evil: Extinction.
His directorial debut was with the 2000 action film Highlander: Endgame. His other credits include Animals and The Day.
He co-wrote and directed the 2013 horror Nurse 3D.
Aarniokoski has directed 8 installments of the CBS series Criminal Minds since 2011, while directing two episodes of The CW's Green Arrow origin series Arrow and one of its sister-series, The Flash.
Sleepy Hollow During the first season of the FOX series Sleepy Hollow, Aarniokoski directed the 7th episode, "The Midnight Ride". In winter 2014, he joined as supervising producer and main director on the show. He has since directed the second-season episodes "Go Where I Send Thee...", "And the Abyss Gazes Back", "Kali Yuga" and "Awakening".
Limitless In 2015, he joined the new CBS series Limitless, as supervising producer and director. The show will be run by former Sleepy Hollow co-worker Mark Goffman.
Filmography Year Title Director Writer Notes 1993 Puppet Master 4 Direct-to-video 1994 Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter 2000 Highlander: Endgame 2009 Animals Credited as "Arnold Cassius" 2011 The Day 2014 Nurse 3D
Acting roles Year Title Role Notes1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Dr. Evil's Telephone Voice, Uncredited1998 The Faculty Brun Coach 2000 Highlander: Endgame Kirk
Television Year Title Notes 2011–2026 Criminal Minds 12 episodes 2013–2015 Sleepy Hollow 6 episodes 2013 Hungry 2014–2015 Arrow 2 episodes 2015 The Flash Episode: "Rogue Air" 2015–2016 Limitless 4 episodes 2016 American Gothic Episode: "The Oxbow" 2016–2017 Bull 4 episodes 2017–2024 Star Trek: Discovery 5 episodes 2018 Timeless Episode: "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes" Instinct 3 episodes Salvation Episode: "White House Down" Star Trek: Short Treks Episode: "The Brightest Star" 2018–2023 S.W.A.T. 5 episodes 2019–2024 Blue Bloods 10 episodes 2020 Charmed Episode: "Curse Words" 2020–2023 Star Trek: Picard 5 episodes 2021 Clarice 2 episodes 2024 Tracker 2 episodes2025 The Irrational Episode: "Another Man's Treasure" Leverage: Redemption Episode: "The Polygeist Job" 2026 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 2 episodes
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