In 1995, Cuesta began to write a semi-autobiographical drama about growing up on Long Island. By his own admission, he had run "with a crowd and we caused a little trouble, but I was always much more into books and movies and I always carried a camera." Still, the seed for what would become his first full-length feature was sown. Over the next five years, Cuesta would refine the screenplay with help from his brother Gerald and college pal Steve Ryder. Eventually what emerged was a contemporary snapshot of disaffected suburban teens. The film's protagonist is a young boy on the cusp of manhood struggling with his burgeoning sexual feelings, his attraction to his charismatic best friend and his odd but chaste relationship with an ex-Marine who happens to be a pedophile. Shot almost like a documentary, "L.I.E." (which stands for Long Island Expressway as well as the obvious) garnered strong notices at Sundance and was picked up for distribution by Lot 47 Films.