Latest in Brett Morgen

Of the seven Emmy nominations for Brett Morgen's National Geographic documentary Jane—depicting the life and work of pioneering primatologist Jane Goodall—one makes the director particularly proud. Competing for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and Nonfiction Directing, with well-deserved nominations in…

Brett Morgen qualifies as one of the most successful directors in documentary film, with credits that range from Cobain: Montage of Heck to The Kid Stays in the Picture, and a raft of awards to his name. But, surprisingly, his long list of honors doesn't include a Primetime Emmy. "I have a terrible track record at the…

Taking on Jane, an archival documentary on the life and scientific contributions of Jane Goodall, Brett Morgen's aim was to recreate the primatologist' formative experiences as she had lived them. Presented with 150 hours of digitized footage—shot in 1960s Gombe by wildlife photographer Hugo van Lawick, who at one…

Brett Morgen's award-winning body of work includes documentaries on The Rolling Stones, Kurt Cobain and dashing movie producer Robert Evans. It may come as a surprise, then, to see him focus his latest film on Jane Goodall, a woman not identified with Hollywood glamour or ear-blasting rock n' roll. In fact her…

EXCLUSIVE:  One of the highlights of the recent Toronto Film Festival (and sure to be at the upcoming New York Film Festival) was the premiere of the extraordinary National Geographic documentary Jane which is based on 100 hours of recently discovered 16MM film footage of Jane Goodall’s first foray into the world of…

Here is a peek into the Brett Morgen-directed pilot When The Street Lights Go On, which screened last week at the Sundance Film Festival as part of their Independent Pilot Showcase. The pilot, produced by Paramount TV and Anonymous Content, recently became independent and is looking for a new network. It was…

The Sundance Film Festival increasingly has been opening its doors to television, with new TV series making their premiere there and independently produced pilots getting screenings alongside independent movies in search of a buyer. But there is a first at this year’s indie festival with When the Street Lights Go On…

There have been several attempts to tell Kurt Cobain's story on film, but Brett Morgen's Emmy-nominated Montage of Heck from HBO stands alone as the only documentary authorized by the singer's family. With Cobain's daughter Frances Bean as co-EP and with the participation of his parents, Montage of Heck revealed a…

In the wake of multiple Emmy noms for his Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck, writer-director Brett Morgen talked to AwardsLine about the experience of sifting through a vault packed with Cobain’s unseen journals and artwork. Since the film’s release earlier this year – first in limited theaters, then on HBO on…

Actor-singer Alison Sudol, who most recently recurred on Amazon’s Transparent and is on USA Network’s Dig, has been tapped to join Eddie Redmayne and Katherine Waterston in Warner Bros' Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Sudol will play Queenie, the sister of Tina (Waterston). The two women…

EXCLUSIVE: Brett Morgen will direct When The Street Lights Go On, the Eddie O’Keefe & Chris Hutton Black List script that is being put together by Anonymous Content. The film is in the vein of Stand by Me, with a story that revolves around a teen boy who becomes obsessed with solving a murder case involving a young…