Jeremy Podeswa

Hailing from Canada, Jeremy Podeswa became one of the most successful and prolific non-American TV directors to work in Hollywood. He got an early start, diving straight into film work after graduating from the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies (now the AFI Conservatory) in 1984. In the early part of his career, Podeswa spent much time on film sets and in the offices of production companies, doing a variety of jobs in addition to his chosen profession of director. Among other assignments, he was unit publicist on Canadian director David Cronenberg's 1988 medical horror-thriller, "Dead Ringers." He found his calling and started working steadily in TV in the mid 1990s, occupying the director's chair for episodes of Canadian series such as "Traders," a drama set in the world of finance. Before long, he was again drawn across the border and started directing American shows such as "Queer as Folk" (2001), an adaptation of the British drama series about a group of young gay men. Podeswa's reputation rapidly grew, and he quickly became a sought-after director in high demand. During this time, he helmed numerous episodes of such high-profile offerings as "Six Feet Under" (2001), a drama centering on a family of morticians, and the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks-produced HBO World War II miniseries "The Pacific" (2010).