the fly and flicks him out of the window.
A London native, Morton has extensive training in bringing things to life. He got his start in the animation program at the West Surrey College of Art & Design. "I wanted to do film, but because I could draw, and because the animation program didn’t have many people, they put me there," says Morton. "Animation is great training for directing live action, because you do everything: You’re the director, the actor, the art director, the editor, the writer. It’s good for working with actors, because you know what it’s like to be inside a character."
After graduating in ’78, he formed his own London-based production company, Cucumber, with his wife, MJZ partner/director Annabel Jankel. Though the two direct separately now, they worked then as a team. Their most famous collaboration was Max Headroom, the half-animated, half-human host of a variety show on Channel 4 in the U.K.
By ’88, Morton and Jankel had moved to Hollywood, where they co-directed the feature D.O.A. "Movies are such a long, laborious, ongoing thing," says Morton, who nonetheless is shepherding "one or two" scripts through development. "Commercials are exciting and short, and I probably enjoy them more, but I still feel kind of a need to do movies."
When he does direct another film, it’s likely to be one that reflects his worldview: "Life, to me, is a twisted, ironic drama. I suppose I’m always trying to re-create that in my work. Even when I direct a dream sequence, I try to work from some premise of reality. There is nothing as crazy as real life."c
