Brett D. Morgen (born October 11, 1968) is an American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

maker. His directorial credits include ''

The Kid Stays in the Picture ''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' is a 1994 print autobiography by film producer Robert Evans. A film adaptation of the book was released in 2002. The title comes from a line attributed to studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, who was defending Evans a ...

'' (2002), ''

Crossfire Hurricane ''Crossfire Hurricane'' is a 2012 documentary film about the Rolling Stones written and directed by Brett Morgen. The film chronicles the early years of the band through to 1981. The film is a series of interviews conducted without cameras, while ...

'' (2012), '' Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'' (2015), '' Jane'' (2017), and '' Moonage Daydream'' (2022).

Early life

Morgen was born October 11, 1968, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California. He was named after USC football lineman Britt Williams, who was team captain in 1961, but his parents misspelled the name. He was raised in the San Fernando Valley, primarily in

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

, where his father worked as a high school

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

teacher. According to Morgen, he was an avid movie fan from a young age, and knew he wanted to be a filmmaker. He attended the Crossroads School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

. Morgen attended

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mo ...

in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in history in 1987, before graduating with an MFA in filmmaking from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1991.

Career

Morgen made ''Ollie's Army'' while a student at New York University. The film focuses on the exploits of the

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

college Republicans during

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...

's senatorial campaign of 1994. '' On the Ropes'' was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 2000 for Best Documentary. The boxing documentary was directed by Morgen and

Nanette Burstein Nanette Burstein (born May 23, 1970) is an American film and television director. Burstein has produced, directed, and co-directed several documentaries including the Academy Award nominated and Sundance Special Jury Prize winning film '' On th ...

, and examined the lives of three aspiring prizefighters and their coach. The film won Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary by the Directors Guild of America. ''

'' is a documentary biopic about film producer

Robert Evans Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor, best known for his work on '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chi ...

, focusing on his major hits, like ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'', and his tumultuous personal life. Once again, Morgen teamed with Nanette Burstein. '' Chicago 10'' is a film about the

Chicago Eight The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged b ...

. The film uses animation and celebrity voice-overs from

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...

Dylan Baker Dylan Baker (born October 7, 1959) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the films such as '' Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' Thirteen Days'' (2000), '' Road to Perdition'' (2002), '' Spide ...

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorne ...

Roy Scheider Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supporting ...

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...

James Urbaniak James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor. He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: '' Henry Fool'' (1997), '' Fay Grim'' (2006) and '' Ned Rifle'' (2014), Robert Crumb in ...

, and

Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...

. ''

June 17th, 1994 ''June 17th, 1994'' is a documentary film by Brett Morgen released as part of ESPN's ''30 for 30'' series. Summary The documentary details the events of June 17, 1994, in which several noteworthy sporting events occurred during the police chase ...

'' aired on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

as an episode of '' 30 for 30'' and featured on-air commentary by Morgen. It was the only ''30 for 30'' episode to date that included no interviews or voice-overs, consisting solely of the actual TV footage on June 17, 1994. This was the date of the O. J. Simpson slow-moving police chase, and the other important sports stories of that day that were mostly ignored, due to the American public's fascination with Simpson. Next, Morgan directed ''

'' (2012), a documentary on

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, followed by the Kurt Cobain documentary film '' Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'' (2017). His next film was '' Jane'' (2017), which follows the life of primatologist

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

, produced by '' National Geographic''. Morgen began working on the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

documentary '' Moonage Daydream'' in 2017. The film was released theatrically in 2022 after premiering at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Personal life

Morgen is married to filmmaker

Debra Eisenstadt Debra Eisenstadt is an American writer, director, producer and editor. Career Eisenstadt began her career as an actress, most notably starring in the theater and film versions of David Mamet’s '' Oleanna'' opposite William H. Macy. Eisenstadt w ...

, with whom he has three children: Sky, Max and Jasper. On January 5, 2017, while working on the film ''Moonage Daydream'', Morgen suffered a near-fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

and

flatline A flatline is an electrical time sequence measurement that shows no activity and therefore, when represented, shows a flat line instead of a moving one. It almost always refers to either a flatlined electrocardiogram, where the heart shows no el ...

d three times while receiving medical care. The heart attack resulted in Morgen being in a coma for a week, but he survived. In a 2022 interview, Morgen attributed his heart attack to years of smoking, stress, and lack of exercise.

Filmography

Feature-length films

* ''Ollie's Army'' (1996) * '' On the Ropes'' (1999) (

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

nomination) * ''

'' (2002) * ''The Sweet Science'' (2003) * '' Chicago 10'' (2007) * ''Truth in Motion'' (2010) * ''

'' (2010) ( 30 for 30) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'' (2015) ( Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program nomination) * '' Jane'' (2017) ( Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program winner) * '' Moonage Daydream'' (2022)

Television series

* ''On Tour'' (1997) * ''Say It Loud'' (2001) * "Nimrod Nation" (2007) Won Peabody Award (2008) * '' Marvel's Runaways'' (2017)

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Year ! Title ! Award ! Result , - , rowspan=14, 2018 , , rowspan=19 , ''Jane'' , , Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award , , - , BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary , , - , Cinema Eye Audience Choice Award , , - , Copenhagen International Documentary Festival Politiken's Audience Award , , - , Gold Derby Award for Best Documentary Feature , , - , International Online Cinema Award for Best Documentary , , - , OFTA Best Documentary Picture , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming , , - , Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking , , - , Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures , , - , Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival WWF Award , , - , Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay , , - , rowspan=5 , 2017 , , Amsterdam International Film Festival Audience Favorite Award , , - , Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Documentary Feature , , - , BFI London Film Festival Grierson Award for Best Documentary , , - , Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award , , - , Philadelphia Film Festival Student Choice Award , , - , rowspan=5 , 2016 , , rowspan=11 , ''Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'' , American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for Best Edited Documentary Feature , , - , Cinema Eye Audience Choice Award , , - , Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing , , -' , Seattle Film Critics Award , , - , Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay , , - , rowspan=6 , 2015 , , Ashland Independent Film Award for Best Editing: Feature Length Documentary , , - , International Documentary Association Creative Recognition Award for Best Editing , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special , , - , Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming , , - , 2013 , ''Crossfire Hurricane'' , FOCAL Award for Best Use of Footage in a Production Featuring Music , , - , rowspan=1 , 2009 , , rowspan=4 , ''Chicago 10'' , Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay , , - , rowspan=2 , 2008 , , Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Production , , - , SLFCA Award Best Animated Film , , - , rowspan=1 , 2007 , , Silver Hugo Award for Best Documentary Feature , , - , rowspan=2 , 2003 , , rowspan=2 , ''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' , International Online Cinema Award for Best Documentary , , - , OFTA Film Award , , - , rowspan=3 , 2000 , , rowspan=9 , ''On the Ropes'' , Academy Awards Best Documentary Feature , , - , Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary , , - , Film Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award , , - , rowspan=6 , 1999 , , International Documentary Association Award for Best Documentary Feature , , - , Silver Spire Award for Film & Video - Society and Culture , , - , Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Documentary , , - , Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Documentary , CNN - Winners at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival - February 1, 1999
/ref> , - , Taos Talking Picture Festival Land Grant Award , , - , Urbanworld Film Festival Jury Prize for Best Documentary , , - , 1996 , ''Ollie's Army'' , UFVA Film Festival First Prize ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgen, Brett 1968 births American directors American documentary filmmakers Collage filmmakers Directors Guild of America Award winners Film directors from Los Angeles Living people Crossroads School alumni Hampshire College alumni New York University alumni People from Studio City, Los Angeles Primetime Emmy Award winners