Morgan Pehme

Who is Morgan Pehme?

Morgan Pehme is an American filmmaker, writer, and producer.

The son of journalist Kalev Pehme, Pehme has been involved in film since he was a child. As a former United States National Scholastic Chess Champion, he was one of the subjects of director Lynn Hamrick’s 1996 documentary Chess Kids, as well as Hamrick’s 2011 30-minute follow to her original film.

Pehme attended The Dalton School in Manhattan with Josh Waitzkin, the subject of the book "Searching for Bobby Fischer". In the book, the author Fred Waitzkin, writes: “Morgan was a year and a half younger than Josh but had the vocabulary and wit of a smart 14-year-old, and he was already one of the three or four strongest chess players in the country in his age group.” Pehme was also portrayed as the character “Morgan” by actor Hal Scardino in the 1993 film adaptation of the book.

As founder and CEO of the production company Merlion Entertainment, Pehme executive produced his first feature film in 2004. The movie, Exist, directed by Esther Bell, was hailed by The New York Times as “an antidote to the whimsy and solipsism endemic to much of what passes for independent film making.”