Morgan Gruer (she/her) is an Emmy® Award winning Writer/Director whose work centers on women’s journeys to empowerment, Jewish identity, and the dark comedy inherent to love, grief, and family dysfunction.
Morgan’s short, Fire At Will, World Premiered at Tribeca Festival 2025 and won Silver at the Young Director Awards at Cannes Lions. Critics praised the film for its “hilarious and seamless writing, performances and direction” (Tribeca) and described it as a “precisely choreographed chaos” with “masterful writing” (The Produced).
Her past work spans Emmy® Award-winning title sequences, Webby-nominated PSA’s, and internationally-recognized shorts. Her short, Ghosted, won Best Director at Nòt Film Festival. Her innovative animated short, Reflections, won Best Animation at both the Louisiana International Film Festival and National Film Festival for Talented Youth.
Across all media, Morgan continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling.
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2026
Fire At Will
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
I stumbled into film through design and animation, with music videos serving as my entry point. After working in hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation, spent largely in my bedroom in front of a computer screen, I was immediately hooked on the energy of being on set and collaborating in person with so many people. My early music videos reflected that transition, often blending live action and animation into mixed media worlds, relying heavily on my animation background to bridge the gaps.
Who is (are) your favorite filmmakers?
Richard Linklater! Celine Song! Greta Gerwig!
What are you working on that no one knows about?
If I told you, then everyone would know! But the next step is certainly a feature film.
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
Jennifer Gray in her Dirty Dancing era, if we could time travel.
My go-to movie snack is popcorn and peanut M&Ms. The combination of sweet and salty is essential, ideally in the same bite.
A film title that best describes my life, at this current moment, would be… Make A Decision Already!
