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, 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 series Laguna Beach.
Morgan's latest feature from his own screenplay, Just Like The Son,
will be premiering at the 2006 Tribeca 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.