Draft:Jeffrey Morris

Wordsmith1701 (talk) 15:08, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Jeffrey Keith Morris (born Dec 23, 1967) is an American writer, director, producer, and production designer. He is the founder of FutureDude Entertainment. Morris is known for the graphic novels Slingshot, Venus: Daedalus One, Brainstorm, Parallel Man, and Oceanus. He is the creator of the Science Fiction short films "Oceanus: Act One" and "Parallel Man". His documentary film "The Eagle Obsession" is currently in production and is scheduled for release in 2025. Morris is also in pre-production on the upcoming feature film "Persephone" and was the co-writer of the "Persephone" film novelization with author Kevin J. Anderson.

Childhood
Jeffrey Morris attended elementary school in Tempe, Arizona near the end of the Civil Rights Movement. His father (Willie Morris) was an aeronautical engineer and his mother (Mary Morris) was a library clerk by profession. Throughout his childhood, Morris frequented the local library to find books on oceanography, meteorology, and space exploration. As one of the few children of color at his school, he regularly faced racial conflicts. He began to look to science-fiction programs like Space 1999 and Star Trek to find hope for the future. Morris found role models in the works of Gene Roddenberry, Carl Sagan, Jacques Cousteau, Syd Mead, and others.

Career
After studying film at Southern Illinois University, Morris considered settling in Los Angeles or Minneapolis. He decided to move to Minneapolis, feeling that it was a city where he could explore and develop his creativity. At first, he worked as a graphic designer during the day and as a club DJ at night. Morris took notice of several young filmmakers who began their directorial careers in music videos and soon after founded his first company (Synthesis) in 1990.

FutureDude Entertainment
He founded the production company Morris FutureWorks in 2010. Morris authored and created several science fiction comic books and graphic novels including: Slingshot, Venus: Daedalus One, Brainstorm, Parallel Man, and Oceanus. He continued to share his professional development through the blog "FutureDude". This blog proved to be so popular that Morris later rebranded his company as FutureDude Entertainment in 2012.

2010-2019: Parallel Man: Infinite Pursuit and Oceanus: Act One
Morris is the creator of the 2014 animated Science Fiction short film "Parallel Man" (starring John Cho, Lance Reddick, and Ming-Na Wen). The story line centers around a version of the multiverse concept and is based on his Parallel Man graphic novel series.

"Oceanus: Act One" (starring Sharif Atkins, Bruce Davison, Megan Dodds, and Malcolm McDowell) was originally released in 2015. It is a Science Fiction short film set around a futuristic underwater research facility.

Both of these short films were originally released on Vimeo (With "Oceanus" also produced on Blu-Ray). They are now located on the streaming platform DUST.

2020-Present: The Eagle Obsession and Persephone
The documentary film "The Eagle Obsession" (Featuring William Shatner, Barbara Bain, Nick Tate, Charles Duke, Sian Proctor, and Michael Okuda) is currently in production. The film looks at the Eagle Transporter spacecraft from the British science fiction television program Space: 1999 along with real spacecraft and space exploration. It is scheduled to be released in 2025 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Space: 1999.

Morris and FutureDude Entertainment are currently in pre-production for the film "Persephone" (starring Brianna Hildebrand, Ming-Na Wen, and Esai Morales). He was the co-writer of the "Persephone" novelization with author Kevin J. Anderson.