Brent Morris / Biography

As a producer and production manager, Brent Morris has worked steadily in the film industry since the late 1980s and has been credited on over thirty feature films.Recent productions include The Grand, a mockumentary set in the world of Las Vegas tournament poker by writer/director Zak Penn, the comic bank caper How to Rob a Bank starring Nick Stahl and Erika Christensen, and The Dog Problem, starring Giovanni Ribisi, Mena Suvari, Don Cheadle and writer/director Scott Caan.In 2005 he line-produced Unknown, a thriller featuring Jim Caviezel and Greg Kinnear as men who awaken in a warehouse with memories erased, and line produced the Los Angeles shoot of the Chinese co-production Shanghai Kiss, a cross-cultural romantic comedy by the Konwiser Brothers and writer/director David Ren.He co-produced master of horror Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, the 2004 action-packed chiller for Lions Gate Films. In 2003 he co-produced Monster, based on the life of serial killer Aileen Wuornos and starring Academy Award-winning Charlize Theron in what critic Roger Ebert deemed "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema". This brutal, moving story was filmed on location in Florida with writer/director Patty Jenkins receiving major awards including Best First Feature Director at the Independent Spirit Awards.In 2000 and 2001, Brent produced Alan Jacobs' hard-hitting drama American Gun, starring Oscar-winner James Coburn in an unforgettable performance in his final role, shot in six different states. In 1999, he produced writer/director Tony Cookson's romantic comedy Love Happens, a look at the relationship foibles of a young woman terrified of commitment.One of the films he is most proud of line producing is Smoke Signals, a groundbreaking success for Native American cinema. It won the Sundance Audience Award and Filmmaker's Trophies and had a successful theatrical and video release through Miramax. Directed by Chris Eyre and written by Sherman Alexie, the film is a charming, moving story of two young Indians discovering themselves and their relationship with the father, portrayed by Gary Farmer.In 1998, Brent joined the Director's Guild of America when offered the production manager job on Shiloh Season. In 2000, he was the unit production manager for the 20th Century Fox comedy Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, filmed on the Fox Baja studio lot in Mexico. The wacky kung fu satire is the creation of writer/director/actor Steve Oedekerk and features over 2,000 visual effects shots.Brent received a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts at UCLA, then founded and served as artistic director of the Rough Theater ensemble. He entered the film industry as a story analyst with Beverly Hills production company Indian Neck Entertainment, then spent three years as associate producer on eight films for producer Ashok Amritraj. His break as a line producer came in 1993, when director Strath Hamilton brought him aboard the nautical thriller Temptation for Dino De Laurentiis. The action and effects-heavy film was a true "baptism by fire" education in the craft of on-set producing. Since 1994, he has worked all over the United States, Romania, Canada and Mexico.In addition, Brent performs freelance consulting work on budgets and schedules and teaches workshop courses at the Film & Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine.In January, 2007 Brent re-located to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he aims to continue to produce and UPM independent and studio features and take advantage of the many incentives the state offers.