Director's Biography

Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Sean Morris was instantly fascinated with filmmaking. When he was only eight, Morris was loaned the first video camera in the state by Alaskan television pioneer Augy Heibert. Morris then started a lifelong love for the captured image.

After earning a degree in Cinematography from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Morris set to work on his first feature film Kusah Hakwaan. Based on the Native Alaskan Tlingit Indian legend of the same name, Kusah Hakwaan was shot entirely inside the state of Alaska, and is the first feature film ever made in Alaska by an Alaskan. It is also the first film to have scenes acted out in the Tlingit Indian language, and the first to use exclusively Native Alaskan actors.

Though the film had an extremely tight budget, it proved to be immensely successful. To date it has screened at over 16 festivals in the US, Canada and Europe. It has won four international awards, and was honored with a run at the Smithsonian Institute. To top things off, the first VHS pressing of Kusah Hakwaan recently sold out. (Click here to find out about the DVD version coming soon.)

While in post-production with Kusah Hakwaan, Morris began to experiment with directing Music Videos and commercials. In-between KH's edit sessions and sound sweetening, Morris worked with fellow writer Bryan Davidson and crafted pitches and treatments for numerous projects.

It was also at this time that Morris started Alaskan Nomad Productions - a full service production company based in Alaska. The "Nomad" name reflects the mobility and adaptability of the company, which boasts finished projects throughout the Americas and Europe. The "Alaskan" part comes from Morris' pride of being born and raised in the coolest (figuratively and literally) of all the fifty states. C'mon. You know it's true.

Morris is currently booked on a number of projects (look at our Projects Page for an update), and is working on a two scripts for his next feature films: "Raven's Gemini" a modern day Native Alaskan legend, and "AK" (co-written with Bryan Davidson) about the struggles and urbanization of today's Alaska.

He was working on a third script called "Cold Blooded", about a group of vampires that migrate to Alaska in winter every year to feed because the sun never comes up. He WAS, that is, until that dum-dum head Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spiderman) had the same idea and is currently in production with a similar film idea. Thanks, Sam. Thanks a lot...

When not filming, Sean loves reading books, camping, snowboarding (!) and The Burning Man Festival. He loves e-mail, too, and can be contacted here.