Michael Spiller  Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director. Spiller has directed on numerous series and has also served as a cinematographer prior to directing and worked frequently with Hal Hartley. He was a regular director on the HBO series, "Sex and the City" where he also served as director of photography during the first four seasons. After "Sex and the City", Spiller continued to direct on series such as "Scrubs", "Jake in Progress", "The Bernie Mac Show" and has directed two episodes of the HBO series, "Big Love" which premiered in March 2006. Spiller was also a producer on the series "Jake in Progress" and "Big Day". In 2011, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the "Modern Family" episode "Halloween". Spiller was born in New Jersey and raised in Brooklyn, New York.