Morgan Valentine Spurlock was born on November 7, 1970, in Parkersburg, West Virginia,[4] and was raised in Beckley, West Virginia. His parents, Ben and Phyllis Spurlock,[5] raised him as a Methodist. He has said he is of Scots-Irish and English descent.[6]
Before making the 2004 Academy Award-nominated Super Size Me, Spurlock was a playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000.[8]
He also created I Bet You Will for MTV. I Bet You Will began as a popular Internet webcast of five-minute episodes featuring ordinary people doing stunts in exchange for money. Examples include eating a full jar of mayonnaise (US$235), eating a "worm burrito" (US$265), and taking shots of corn oil, Pepto-Bismol, lemon juice, hot sauce, cold chicken broth, and cod liver oil (US$450.00 for all nine shots). The webcast was a success, with over a million hits in the first five days.[citation needed] MTV later bought and aired the show, which Spurlock hosted. The list of documentary films that inspired Spurlock includes Brother's Keeper, Hoop Dreams, The Thin Blue Line, Roger and Me, Harlan County USA, and The Last Waltz. He considers Brother's Keeper the greatest documentary of all time.[9][10] In 2008, he signed a deal with Fox Television Studios.[11]
While attending a screening of the movie Catfish, Spurlock approached the film's producers afterwards and called Catfish "the best fake documentary" he had ever seen.[12][13]
In 2017, Spurlock stepped down from his production company after admitting to having committed sexual misconduct in his past, including cheating on his past wives and girlfriends as well as settling a sexual harassment allegation.[14]
Spurlock's docudrama Super Size Me was released in the U.S. on May 7, 2004. This production was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and Spurlock won the first Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.[15] He conceived the idea for the film when he was at his parents' house for Thanksgiving, and while watching TV saw a news story about a lawsuit brought against McDonald's by two teenage girls who blamed the fast food chain for their obesity.
The film depicts an experiment he conducted in 2003, in which he ate three McDonald's meals a day every day (and nothing else) for 30 days. The film's title derives from one of the rules of Spurlock's experiment: he would not refuse the "super-size" option whenever it was offered to him but would never ask for it himself. The result, according to Spurlock, was a diet with twice the calories recommended by the USDA. Further, Spurlock attempted to curtail his physical activity to match the exercise habits better of the average American (he previously walked about 5 kilometers\3 miles a day, whereas the average American walks 2 kilometers\1.5 miles).
In his reply documentary Fat Head, Tom Naughton "suggests that Spurlock's calorie and fat counts don't add up" and noted Spurlock's refusal to publish the Super Size Me food log. The Houston Chronicle reports: "Unlike Spurlock, Naughton has a page on his Web site that lists every item (including nutritional information) he ate during his fast-food month."[16]
He was of above average health and fitness when he started the project; he gained 25 pounds (11kg), became quite puffy, and suffered liver dysfunction and depression by the end. Spurlock's supervising physicians noted the effects caused by his high-calorie diet—once even comparing it to a case of severe binge alcoholism. Following Spurlock's December 2017 assertion that he hadn't been "sober for more than a week" in three decades, the claims of his liver dysfunction being caused by eating McDonald's food solely for 30 days have been called into question.[17]
After completing the project, it took Spurlock fourteen months to return to his normal weight of 185 pounds (84kg). His then-girlfriend (now ex-wife), Alexandra Jamieson, took charge of his recovery with her "detox diet", which became the basis for her book, The Great American Detox Diet.[18]
The one-hour documentary Committed: The Toronto International Film Festival premiered on AMC on 12 October 2010.[24]
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is a 2011 documentary film about product placement, marketing and advertising which was reportedly itself financed through product placement.[21][25]The Greatest Movie Ever Sold was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011.[26] It was released in the US in April 2011. It screened in the New Zealand Film Festival in August 2011 together with an appearance by Spurlock to talk about the movie.
In mid-2010, Spurlock worked with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles, and comic book creator Stan Lee to create the documentary Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan's Hope, to cover the stories of convention fans.[27][28] Whedon, Lee, and Knowles served as executive producers. Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull, who independently financed the documentary, told Variety, "We look forward to capturing the spirit, energy and people that Comic-Con has infused into legions of fans, bringing these audiences and projects out of the halls and onto a world stage."[29] On April 6, 2012, Spurlock released the film to selected theaters in the United States, as well as video on demand outlets.
Spurlock helped distribute A Brony Tale, a documentary directed by Brent Hodge on the brony phenomenon and on the musician and voice acting career of Ashleigh Ball. The film was selected for theatrical distribution under the label Morgan Spurlock Presents. The film had a July 8, 2014 theater release.[31]
In each episode, a person (sometimes Spurlock himself) or a group of people spend 30 days immersing themselves in a mode of life markedly different from their norm (being in prison, a devout Christian living in a Muslim family, a homophobe staying with a homosexual person, etc.), while Spurlock discusses the relevant social issues involved. FX began airing the show on June 15, 2005. In the premiere episode of the first season, "Minimum Wage", Spurlock and his fiancée lived for 30 days in the Bottoms neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, earning minimum wage, with no access to outside funds.
In the second-season finale, Spurlock spent 25 days locked in a Henrico County, Virginia (a county outside of Richmond), jail to experience life as an inmate.[32] He did not complete the entire 30 days in jail because the majority of inmates in the state of Virginia serve 85% of the sentence, so once Spurlock reached that benchmark, he was released.[33]
The third season of 30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008.[34] The first episode of the third season, titled "Working in a Coal Mine", was filmed in Bolt, West Virginia, which is located roughly 18 miles (29km) from the city of Beckley, West Virginia, where Spurlock was raised before leaving for New York.[35]
In late 2008, FX announced it would not renew the 30 Days series, making the third season the last.
Other work
Morgan Spurlock with Highland Titles in Scotland during filming Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia
Spurlock has a role in the film Drive Thru, a horror film about a fictional fast food restaurant that has its mascot come to life and start killing people. It was released on DVD on May 29, 2007.
On May 28, 2011, Spurlock was the graduation commencement speaker for the MBA Business program at Sonoma State University.
Spurlock's half-hour documentary series A Day in the Life was to debut on Hulu in mid-August 2011. It follows "incredibly focused" people such as Richard Branson and will.i.am for a full day. The series is exclusive to Hulu.[39]
Spurlock directed an additional episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 sports documentary series, entitled "The Dotted Line". This documentary takes a look at the competitive world of sports agents. "The Dotted Line" premiered on ESPN October 11, 2011, one day following the premiere of a two-hour documentary, I, Caveman, created and directed by Spurlock for the Science Channel series Curiosity. In it, a group of men and women including Spurlock try to survive in the wild using only Stone Age technology.
In 2011, Spurlock presented a Ted talk called "The greatest Ted talk ever sold".
Spurlock is the presenter of a new show in the UK on Sky Atlantic entitled Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia. The show is a comedy based around the differences between the UK and the US.[40]
Spurlock contributed a brief Foreword to Martin Lindstrom's 2011 book Brandwashed.
Spurlock's documentary Mansome was announced on March 8, 2012, as a Spotlight selection for the Tribeca Film Festival. The film takes a comedic look at male identity as defined through men's grooming habits featuring celebrity and expert commentary.[41]
Spurlock wrote a book in 2005 as a follow-up to Super Size Me entitled Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America.
Potential projects
Warrior Poets' upcoming slate includes the Untitled Human Intelligence Project, a feature-length documentary that will explore the field of neuroscience and debate the societal and ethical implications of emerging technology; Spurlock will direct as well as produce. Spurlock is also set to direct his first narrative feature film based on Brian Kellow's bestselling bio Can I Go Now about Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers. Additional upcoming projects also include executive producing the Food Network TV series “I Hart Food” starring YouTube sensation Hannah Hart and a collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker and Refinery29 on the TNT docu-series “Who Run The World?.”[43]
Personal life
Spurlock has two sons. The older, Laken James Spurlock, was born on December 9, 2006. His birth is depicted in Spurlock's documentary Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?, which Spurlock dedicated to Laken. The younger, Kallen Marcus Spurlock, was born on May 22, 2016.[44]
Although Spurlock was raised Methodist, he stated in an interview with TV Guide in 2014 that he is now agnostic.[45]
Sexual misconduct incidents
In December 2017, Spurlock wrote a blog post admitting to a history of sexual misconduct.[46][47][48] After publishing his blog post, he stepped down from his position with Warrior Poets, a company he had founded in 2004.[49]
In October 2022, The Washington Post reported that Spurlock had "suffered career death" as a result of his misconduct.[50]
There were several video and audio recordings released by Osama bin Laden between 2001 and 2011.
Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's food. The film documents the drastic effect on Spurlock's physical and psychological health and well-being. It also explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit and gain.
The 2004 documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 generated controversy before, during, and after its release a few months prior to the 2004 U.S. presidential election. The film, directed by Michael Moore, criticizes the Bush administration's attempt to pursue Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, as well as the Iraq War. Although Fahrenheit 9/11 was generally praised by film critics and won various awards including that year's Palme d'Or, the content was criticized by several commentators for accuracy, and lack of context. Additionally, the distributors protested Moore's inaction on unauthorized copying.
Osama bin Laden, the founder and former leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the start of the War in Afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the United States and/or its allies for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and having been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 1999. After evading capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, his whereabouts became unclear, and various rumours about his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also released several video and audio recordings during this time.
Peter Lampert Bergen is a British and American-based United States journalist, author, and producer who is CNN's national security analyst, a vice president at New America, a professor at Arizona State University, and the host of the Audible podcast In the Room with Peter Bergen.
Donald Ray Crockett is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He played for fourteen years in the NFL and earned two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos as a cornerback. He played his high school football at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas. He played college football at Baylor from 1984 to 1988, and was inducted into the Baylor athletic hall of fame in 2008. He notably returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown against Dallas in 1991. On 20 Sep 1998, he intercepted Jeff George in the third quarter and returned it 25 yards, then did it again in the 4th quarter, returning it 80 yards for a touchdown, and Broncos record 105 combined interception yards.
Super High Me is a 2007 documentary film about the effects of smoking cannabis for 30 days. Directed by Michael Blieden, the documentary stars comedian Doug Benson. The documentary's name and its poster are plays on the 2004 documentary Super Size Me.
Fortissimo Films is a Dutch sales, film production company specializing in the production, presentation, promotion and distribution of feature films, founded in 1991 with offices in Amsterdam.
Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? is a 2008 documentary film, conceived by Adam Dell and co-written, produced, directed by, and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker.
Osama bin Laden has been depicted or parodied in a variety of media. Notable examples include:
Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America is a 2005 book by Morgan Spurlock.
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! is a documentary special that examined the "cultural phenomenon" of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010. The special was directed by Morgan Spurlock.
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is a 2011 documentary film about product placement, marketing and advertising directed by Morgan Spurlock. The premise behind the production is that the documentary itself would be entirely paid for by sponsors, thus being a form of metafilm. The film's slogan is "He's not selling out, he's buying in."
Fat Head is a 2009 American documentary film directed by and starring comedian and health writer Tom Naughton. The film seeks to refute both the documentary Super Size Me and the lipid hypothesis, a theory of nutrition started in the early 1950s in the United States by Ancel Keys and promoted in much of the Western world.
Osama bin Laden's compound, known locally as the Waziristan Haveli, was a large, upper-class house within a walled compound used as a safe house for Saudi militant Islamist Osama bin Laden, who was shot and killed there by U.S. forces on 2 May 2011. The compound was located at the end of a dirt road 1,300 metres southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy in Bilal Town, Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, a suburb housing many retired military officers. Bin Laden was reported to have evaded capture by living in a section of the house for at least five years, having no Internet or phone connection, and hiding away from the public, who were unaware of his presence.
"The Spy Who Learned Me" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Marc Wilmore. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 6, 2012.
Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American historical drama thriller film directed and co-produced by Kathryn Bigelow and written and co-produced by Mark Boal. The film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist network Al-Qaeda, after the September 11 attacks. This search leads to the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the U.S. military raid where bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011.
"Supersize Me" is the seventh episode of season 8 and 207th episode overall of the American animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head. It aired on MTV on November 17, 2011, along with "Bathroom Break".
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope is a 2011 documentary film on the San Diego Comic-Con International, directed by Morgan Spurlock.
Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Morgan Spurlock. A sequel to the 2004 film Super Size Me, it explores the ways in which the fast food industry has rebranded itself as healthier since his original film through the process of Spurlock working to open his own fast-food restaurant, thus exposing some of the ways in which rebranding is more perception than reality.
↑ Gibb, Lindsay (March 2008). "The everyman Morgan Spurlock talks about the state of documentaries, not finding Osama bin Laden, and why listening to voices is a good thing". RealScreen: 58.
↑ Schuker, Lauren A.E. (February 2, 2008). "Hit List: Morgan Spurlock". No.Weekend Journal. Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
↑ Spurlock, Morgan. "Untitled". WhoSay. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
↑ Logan, Michael (April 11, 2014). "Morgan Spurlock is CNN's Inside Man, Tracking Kardashians, UFOs and More". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016. Spurlock: I was raised Methodist but as I grew up and traveled the world and met more and more people from various religions, I have become much more of an agnostic.
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