Morgan J. Freeman
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Morgan J. Freeman (born December 5, 1969 in Long Beach, California, USA) is an American film director. In 1997, Morgan's debut feature, Hurricane Streets, became the first narrative film to win three awards at the Sundance Film Festival (Audience Award, Best Director, and Best Cinematography). It was bought by MGM/UA and distributed the following year.
Born in Long Beach, California, California, Morgan received his BA in Film Studies in 1992 from UC Santa Barbara. Morgan spent the following year in Paris studying film theory at the Sorbonne. In 1993, he entered NYU's Graduate Film Program where he earned his M.F.A. During the summer of 1994, Morgan interned at a small production company where he was introduced to Todd Solondz, who was prepping to shoot Welcome to the Dollhouse. Morgan was an Assistant Director on Dollhouse, which went on to win the 1996 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. It was also on this film that he became friends with actor Brendan Sexton III, the eventual star of Hurricane Streets.
Following the critical success of Hurricane Streets, Morgan wrote and directed Desert Blue. The film was distributed by the Samuel Goldwyn Company and re-teamed Morgan with Brendan Sexton III. The film also starred Christina Ricci, Casey Affleck, Ethan Suplee, Peter Sarsgaard, and was Kate Hudson's debut film.
In 2000, Morgan wrote and directed The Cherry Picker for Showtime starring Janeane Garofalo. Morgan directed several music videos, including two for the breakout indie band Rilo Kiley, and he directed the teen hit Dawson's Creek for the WB. In 2001, Morgan directed American Psycho 2 for Lions Gate Films. In 2003, he helmed the independent feature Piggy Banks, which starred Gabriel Mann, Kelli Garner and Tom Sizemore. Later that year, Morgan produced the groundbreaking MTV reality TV show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. In 2007, Morgan created and co-produced Maui Fever, another MTV reality series.
Morgan's latest feature from his own screenplay, Just Like the Son, premiered to immediate audience and critical acclaim at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival and was the winner of the Alice Nella Citta Prize for Best Feature Film at its European debut in Italy at the 2006 Rome Film Festival. The film stars Mark Webber, Brendan Sexton III and Rosie Perez.
Morgan currently lives in New York City where he is writing his next screenplay.
