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Morgan Spurlock

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Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Spurlock at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Born
Morgan Valentine Spurlock

(1970-11-07) November 7, 1970 (age 53)
Parkersburg, West Virginia
Occupation(s)Independent documentary film director, TV producer, and screenwriter
SpouseAlexandra Jamieson (2006 - present)
ChildrenLaken James Spurlock (b. 2006)

Morgan Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American, independent documentary filmmaker, television producer and screenwriter, best known for the documentary film Super Size Me, in which he demonstrated the health effects of McDonald's food by eating nothing but McDonalds three times a day, every day, for 30 days. Spurlock is also the executive producer and star of the reality television series 30 Days.

Career

Spurlock graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1993. 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. I Bet You Will began as a popular Internet webcast of five-minute episodes featuring ordinary people doing disgusting, unusual, or embarrassing stunts in exchange for money. Examples include eating a full jar of mayonnaise ($235USD), eating a "worm burrito" ($265USD), and taking shots of corn oil, Pepto-Bismol, lemon juice, hot sauce, cold chicken broth, and cod liver oil ($450USD for all nine shots). The webcast was a success, with over a million hits in the first five days. The show was later bought and aired by MTV.

Film

Super Size Me

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.[1]

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".[2] However, towards the end of the film Spurlock elaborates that some people eat fast food every day.

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

Spurlock's second feature documentary, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008. The film is dedicated to Spurlock's infant son, Laken.

30 Days

Spurlock's television project since 2005 has been 30 Days. In each episode, a person (which in some cases, is Spurlock himself) spends 30 days immersing themselves in a mode of life markedly different from their norm (being in prison, a heterosexual living 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 suburb of Richmond) jail to experience life as an inmate.[3] 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.[4]

The third season of 30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008.[5] 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 from the town of Beckley, West Virginia, where Spurlock was raised prior to leaving for New York.[6]

Other work

  • Spurlock optioned the rights for Chris Mooney's book The Republican War on Science in order to create another documentary film.[7]
  • 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.[8] It was released on DVD on May 29, 2007.

Personal life

Spurlock, who is Jewish,[9] was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Beckley, West Virginia. He went to New York University and graduated in 1993 and was a member of The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta[10]. He currently lives in New York City. He married long time girlfriend, vegan chef Alexandra Jamieson on May 3, 2006. [11] They have a son, Laken James Spurlock, 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.

He has donated $2,300 to presidential candidate Barack Obama.[12]

Bibliography

Don't Eat This Book published in 2005.
  • Morgan Spurlock (2005). Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-15260-1.

References

  1. ^ Great American Detox Diet on Amazon.com
  2. ^ Les Sayer's FAQ
  3. ^ Associated Press, "Spurlock to go behind bars". June 13, 2006.
  4. ^ FX "Thirty Days: Season 2 on the FX Network, Season Finale Episode.
  5. ^ Capone With Morgan Spurlock About WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN? And More!!, www.aintitcool.com, April 18, 2008
  6. ^ "Spurlock Supersizes West Virginia On The Map".
  7. ^ Spurlock filming "The Republican War on Science
  8. ^ Spurlock in Drive Thru
  9. ^ "The Heeb Hundred"; heebmagazine.com
  10. ^ "The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta"
  11. ^ Alexandra Jamieson's Website
  12. ^ "Newsmeat Campaign Contribution Search"; Newsmeat.com

External links

  • General
  • Interviews


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