Michael Stephen Lehmann (born March 30, 1957) is an American film and television director known for directing the dark comedy Heathers.
Early life and education In 1978, Lehmann graduated from Columbia University.Columbia College Today: "Michael Lehmann ’78: Satire and Subversion on the Silver Screen" By Jennifer Preissel November/December 2017
Lehmann is of Jewish descent.
Career Lehmann's first job in the film industry was answering phones at Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope film company. Later he supervised cameras on films that included 1983's The Outsiders. Lehmann attended film school at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and graduated in 1985. While at USC he made a student film, The Beaver Gets a Boner, the title of which he believes helped get the attention of film executives who would later hire him.
A short film by Lehmann, titled "Ed's Secret Life (An Unauthorized Biography)", was shown on Saturday Night Live. Purportedly about Mister Ed's post-career life, William Schallert, Mick Fleetwood, and Heather Locklear appeared in it.
Lehmann is most known for directing the dark comedy Heathers. He also directed 40 Days and 40 Nights, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Hudson Hawk, Meet the Applegates, Airheads and Because I Said So.
Lehmann directed his first television commercial through the Leo Burnett Company in June 1996 for McDonald's. Lehmann also directs for television, and has worked on The Comeback and The West Wing. Lehmann directed episodes of The Larry Sanders Show, Watching Ellie, Century City, Big Love, True Blood, Californication, Wonderfalls, White Famous, Betas, American Horror Story, Snowfall, Veronica Mars, and 68 Whiskey.
Lehmann said that he never would make a sequel to Heathers and that Winona Ryder wanted to do Heathers set in Washington, D.C., but he saw no potential for the project.
Filmography Film Heathers (1989) Meet the Applegates (1990) (Also writer) Hudson Hawk (1991) Airheads (1994) The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) My Giant (1998) 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) Because I Said So (2007) Flakes (2007)
Television Year Title Director ExecutiveProducer Notes 1993 Homicide: Life on the Street Episode "Night of the Dead Living" 1994–1997 The Larry Sanders Show 5 episodes 1995 Fallen Angels Episode: "Good Housekeeping" 1999 The West Wing Episode: "Five Votes Down" 2002 Watching Ellie Episode: "Aftershocks" Pasadena Episode: "Run Lily Run" 2003 Trash TV movie 2004 Century City 2 episodes: "Pilot" and "The Face Was Familiar" Wonderfalls Episode: "Caged Bird" 2005 The Comeback 4 episodes 2006–2009 Big Love 3 episodes: "The Baptism", "Good Guys and Bad Guys" and "Outer Darkness" 2007 Family of the Year Episode: "Pilot" 2008 Miss Guided 2 episodes: "Rebel Yell" and "Pool Party" 12 Miles of Bad Road Episode: "Moon-shadow" 2008–2009 Worst Week 2 episodes: "The Wedding" and "The Sex" 2008–2013 True Blood 15 episodes 2008–2014 Californication 7 episodes 2009 The Beautiful Life Episode: "The Beautiful Aftermath" 2009–2010 Bored to Death 7 episodes 2010 Outsourced Episode: "Bolloween" The Big C 2 episodes: "Divine Intervention" and "New Beginnings" 2011 Nurse Jackie 2 episodes: "Play Me" and "Mitten" 2011–2012 Dexter 2 episodes: "Ricochet Rabbit" and "The Dark… Whatever" 2011–2013 American Horror Story 3 episodes: "Smoldering Children", "Unholy Night" and "The Name Game" 2012 Cassandra French'sFinishing School for Boys Episode: "Pilot" 2013 Go On 2 episodes: "Win at All Costas" and "Double Down" Betas 4 episodes 2014–2016 Tyrant 4 episodes 2015 House of Lies Episode: "Praise Money! Hallowed be Thy Name" The Brink 4 episodes Scream Queens Episode: "Thanksgiving" 2015–2016 Blunt Talk 6 episodes 2016 Chance 3 episodes: "Hiring It Done", "Unlocking Your Hidden Powers" and"Fluid Management" 2017 White Famous 2 episodes: "Wolves" and "Make Believe" 2017–2019 Snowfall 3 episodes: "A Long Time Coming", "The Offer" and "The Bottoms" 2018 Deception 3 episodes: "Forced Perspective", "Getting Away Clean" and"Transposition" 2019 Jessica Jones Episode: "A.K.A. The Perfect Burger" Veronica Mars Episode: "Spring Break Forever" The Terror 2 episodes: "Gaman" and "The Weak Are Meat" 2020 68 Whiskey 5 episodes 2022 The Woman in the House Acrossthe Street from the Girl in the Window Miniseries 2023 Heels 2 episodes: "Discord" and "Heavy Heads" 2024 American Rust 2 episodes: "Iron Sky" and "The Hand You're Delt" Will Trent Episode: "Have You Never Been to a Wedding?" 2024–2025 Dexter: Original Sin 6 episodes 2026 R.J. Decker 2 episodes: "Brenner's Back" and "Arms and Armadillos"
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