Morgan Spurlock
- Morgan Spurlock
-
- Birth date: November 7, 1970
- Birth place: Parkersburg, VA
- Marital status: Married
- Height: 6' 2" (1.88 m)
Biography
Spurlock was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Beckley, West Virginia, and currently lives in New York City. Spurlock married long time girlfriend, Alexandra Jamieson on May 3, 2006. She has her own career as a vegan chef. They have a son, Laken James Spurlock, born on December 9, 2006.
In 1993, Spurlock graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. 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. He also created I Bet You Will for MTV.
Spurlock's documentary SUPER SIZE ME was released in the U.S. on May 7, 2004, and later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. 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 McDonalds 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, mandatory that he take the "super-size" option whenever it was offered, the end result being a diet with twice the calories recommended by the USDA. Further, Spurlock attempted to curtail his physical activity to better match the exercise habits of the average American (he previously walked about 3 miles a day whereas the average American walks 1.5 miles). He was of above-average health and fitness when he started the project; he gained 25 pounds (11 kg), suffered liver dysfunction and depression. Spurlock's supervising physicians noted the effects caused by his high-fat, high-carb diet—one even comparing it to a case of severe binge alcoholism.
After the completion of the project, it took Spurlock fourteen months to return to his normal weight of 185 pounds (84 kg). His then-girlfriend (now wife), Alexandra Jamieson, took charge of his recovery with her "detox diet," which became the basis for her book The Great American Detox Diet.
Spurlock's critics contend that his movie was a dishonest depiction of how fast food fits in with a regular diet. Spurlock deliberately ate 6,000 calories per day, more than twice what is recommended for a healthy diet. Biology professor Les Sayer has shown it is possible to eat a steady diet of McDonalds and not gain weight, though Sayer states clearly he is not trying to recreate the Spurlock experiment and that his exercise level of "an hour a day 5–6 times a week is not representative of the average North American". However, towards the end of the film Spurlock elaborates that some people eat fast food every day.
Spurlock's most recent project is a television program 30 DAYS. In each episode, a person spends 30 days immersing himself in a mode of life markedly different from his norm (working at Wal-Mart, being in prison, heterosexual living with a homosexual person, and so on), 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 suburb of Richmond) jail to experience life as an inmate. 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 hit that benchmark, he was released.
More info
- Spurlock Was rejected by the film school at USC five times.
- Had done standup comedy briefly in Los Angeles and was, at one point - homeless before finding firmer ground as a filmmaker.
- [2005] Engaged to longtime girlfriend Alexandra Jamieson.
- Member of the ACLU.
- He and Alex got married on Tavarua Island in Fiji.
- Was a member of Phi Gamma Delta national fraternity (Nu Epsilon chapter, New York University.)
- Comedy Central has announced that it is developing a new series called Public Nuisance with Morgan Spurlock.
- Spurlock has optioned the rights for Chris Mooney's book The Republican War on Science in order to create another documentary film.
- Spurlock has a role in the film Drive Thru, about a fast food restaurant that has its mascot come to life and start killing people. It was released on DVD on May 29, 2007.
- Spurlock has stated on his blog that his next film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008, although he did not say what the film was about. It has since been reported that this film is titled Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? and may contain an interview with Bin Laden himself - however, this was denied by some, who saw that film at the Stardance documentary film festival
Occupation
- Stand up comedian and film student
- Oscar nominated Filmmaker and producer
