Steve Shill

Not content to act and direct in his native England, Steve Shill crossed the ocean and moved westward to eventually become an Emmy Award-winning director. Shill graduated from Leeds University in 1980 with a degree in Fine Arts and spent the next decade-plus dabbling in acting, his biggest role coming as a centurion in 1988's controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ." He made the shift to directing with a 1995 installment of the BBC drama anthology "Performance" and was soon directing episodes of "The EastEnders," "Casualty," and "The Bill." After moving to the United States, Shill was tapped to work on the Sidney Lumet A&E courtroom drama "100 Centre Street" and the Dick Wolf network dramas "Law & Order" and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit." Pay cable networks took notice and HBO started hiring him to direct episodes of "The Wire," "Carnivale," "Rome," and "Deadwood," for which he earned a Writers Guild of America nod for Outstanding Drama Series. Showtime hired Shill on as an executive producer and director for the 2007 debut season of the historical series "The Tudors," also keeping him on board to direct installments of "Brotherhood" and "Dexter." While his motion picture directorial debut came in the 2009 Beyonce Knowles thriller, "Obsessed," Shill achieved his greatest acclaim when he earned an Emmy the following year thanks to his directing work on "Dexter."