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Morgan J. Freeman (born December 5, 1969) is an American
film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
. In 1997, his debut feature, '' Hurricane Streets'', won three awards at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
.


Early life and education

Freeman was born and raised in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
on December 5, 1969. He started making films as a teenager, basing them on the TV series ''
Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...
''. He is Jewish. Freeman attended the
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
, where he worked for the campus newspaper, the '' Daily Nexus''. While working for the ''Daily Nexus'', his article entitled "Violence, arson continue in L.A." won Columbia Scholastic Press Association's 1993 Collegiate Gold Circle Award for news writing and third place in the California Intercollegiate Press Awards. He graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in film studies. He spent the following year in Amsterdam, working for Why Not Productions and studying film theory at the Sorbonne. He later entered
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
's Graduate Film Program where he graduated with a M.F.A. in 1996.


Career


Early career and ''Hurricane Streets''

During the summer of 1994 while still enrolled at NYU, Morgan met Todd Solondz while doing an internship. Solondz hired Morgan to work on the crew of his upcoming film, '' Welcome to the Dollhouse'', where he was promoted from production assistant to second assistant director. The movie went on to win
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
's 1996 Grand Jury Prize Dramatic, but more importantly for Freeman it was during this time he befriended actor Brendan Sexton III, the eventual star of '' Hurricane Streets''. ''Hurricane Streets'' served as Freeman's thesis at New York University, against instruction to avoid using feature films. Sexton III's character from ''Welcome to the Dollhouse'' inspired Freeman to write ''Hurricane Streets'', which he originally wanted to name ''Hurricane'' but was unable due to the closeness to the
Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...
feature '' The Hurricane''. Freeman submitted his thesis to the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
, where it became the first film to win three major honors at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award Dramatic, Directing Award Dramatic, Excellence in Cinematography Award Dramatic. The film was bought by
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
at Sundance.


Further film projects

Following the critical success of ''Hurricane Streets'', Freeman wrote and directed '' Desert Blue''. The film was distributed by the Samuel Goldwyn Company and re-teamed Freeman with Sexton. The film starred
Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge. Ricci works mostly in Independent film, independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is ...
,
Casey Affleck Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...
, Ethan Suplee, Peter Sarsgaard, and
Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Born to singer Bill Hudson (singer), Bill Hudson and actress Goldie Hawn, Hudson made her film debut in the 1998 drama ''Desert Blue'', which was followed by supporting ...
(in her film debut). In 2000, Freeman wrote and directed ''The Cherry Picker'' for Showtime starring Janeane Garofalo. He directed several music videos, including two for the breakout indie band Rilo Kiley, and directed the teen hit ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...
'' for
The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
. In 2001, Freeman directed '' American Psycho 2'' for
Lions Gate Entertainment Starz Entertainment Corp, formerly known officially as Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation and commonly as Lions Gate and/or Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment industry, entertainment company currently headquartered in Santa Monica ...
. In 2003, he helmed the independent feature '' Piggy Banks'', which starred Gabriel Mann, Kelli Garner, and Tom Sizemore. '' Just Like the Son'' premiered to audience and critical acclaim at the 2006
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
and won the Alice Nella Citta Prize for Best Feature Film at its European debut in Italy at the 2006 Rome Film Festival. The film stars Sexton, Mark Webber, and Rosie Perez. Freeman directed the 2009 film ''
Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada. United St ...
'', starring Mischa Barton.


Television projects

Freeman produced the
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
reality TV show '' Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County''. In 2007, he created and executive produced the television series '' Maui Fever'', another MTV reality series. He also produced the MTV reality shows ''
16 and Pregnant ''16 and Pregnant'' is an American reality television series that aired from June 11, 2009, to July 1, 2014, on the cable channel MTV. It followed the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregna ...
'', ''
Teen Mom ''Teen Mom'' (renamed ''Teen Mom OG'', starting with the fifth season) is an American reality television series broadcast by MTV. It is the first spin-off of ''16 and Pregnant'', and it focuses on the lives of several young mothers as they na ...
'' and '' Teen Mom 2''.


References


External links

*
Tiburon International Film Festival biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Morgan J. 1969 births Living people Mass media people from Long Beach, California University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Film directors from California Sundance Film Festival award winners