Morgan Neville (born October 10, 1967) is an American film producer, director and writer. His acclaimed film ''

20 Feet from Stardom ''20 Feet from Stardom'' is a 2013 American documentary film directed by documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville and produced by Gil Friesen, a music industry executive whose curiosity to know more about the lives of background singers inspired the ...

'' won him the

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 ...

in 2014 as well as a

Grammy Award for Best Music Film The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. ...

. His documentary '' Best of Enemies,'' on the debates between

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

and William F. Buckley, was shortlisted for the 2016 Academy Award and won an Emmy Award. His 2018 film '' Won't You Be My Neighbor?'', a documentary about

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

, received critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all time. Neville has been nominated for five additional Grammys for films including ''Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story'', ''Muddy Waters: Can’t Be Satisfied'', ''Johnny Cash’s America,'' and ''The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.'' Neville’s other films include '' The Cool School'', ''Shotgun Freeway'', ''Keith Richards: Under the Influence'', and, as producer, '' Miss Americana'', ''Beauty Is Embarrassing'' and ''Crossfire Hurricane''. For television, Neville directed and executive produced the series '' Ugly Delicious,'' '' Abstract: The Art of Design'', '' Chelsea Does,'' '' Shangri-La'', and ''

Song Exploder ''Song Exploder'' is a music podcast created by Hrishikesh Hirway, who hosted it from its 2014 inception until late 2018 and again from December 2019 onwards. In January 2019, Thao Nguyen became a guest host for the year, with Christian Koons se ...

''.

Biography and career

Neville was born in Los Angeles, California, graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and originally worked as a journalist in New York City and San Francisco before moving into film production in 1993. He founded Tremolo Productions in 1999 and continues to run it today. Neville's films focus on culture, and especially on music. Speaking about his 2016 film ''The Music of Strangers'', Neville said "The best thing about it for me as a filmmaker ... is that not only do I get to indulge my musical love, but that music is, to me, the most amazing Trojan horse to tell any other kind of story. The best music films are not about music ... Music is just the language we're speaking to tell a story about culture." Since finding success with his music-related documentaries, Neville has focused on other aspects of culture, such as politics and media. In a 2014 blog post on the International Documentary Association's website, Neville wrote that he is drawn to "how a smaller story can be a perfect window into conflicts within the human condition." His 2015 film ''Best of Enemies'' examines the televised debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley and serves as a timely investigation into politics and media. His film ''Won't You Be My Neighbor'', about legendary television host Fred Rogers, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews, and focuses on the power that kindness and understanding can have in a community, whether real or imagined.

Personal life

Neville lives in Pasadena, California with his wife and two children.

Filmography (as director)

Feature-length films

* ''Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.'' (1995) * ''Brian Wilson: A Beach Boy's Tale'' (1999) * ''Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll (''2000) * ''Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied'' (2003) * ''Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues'' (2004) * '' The Cool School'' (2008) * ''Johnny Cash's America'' (2008) * ''Search and Destroy: Iggy & The Stooges' Raw Power'' (2010) * ''Troubadours'' (2011) * ''

'' (2013) * '' Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal'' (2015) * ''The Music of Strangers'' (2015) * ''Keith Richards: Under the Influence'' (2015) * '' Won't You Be My Neighbor?'' (2018) * '' They'll Love Me When I'm Dead'' (2018) *'' Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain'' (2021) * '' Mickey: The Story of a Mouse'' (2022) (producer)

Television

* ''Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story'' (2007) * '' Chelsea Does'' (2016) * '' Abstract: The Art of Design'' (2017) * '' Ugly Delicious'' (2018) * '' Shangri-La'' (2019) * ''

'' (2020) * '' Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Tremolo Productions
* __FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Morgan 1967 births American film producers Living people Directors of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners Film producers from California University of Pennsylvania alumni Grammy Award winners Film directors from Los Angeles