Oxford MBA Receives Emmy Nomination for Amanda Knox Documentary

Learning about the business side of filmmaking isn’t one of the more common reasons to pursue an MBA, but it’s exactly why Stephen Robert Morse attended Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. It was through this experience that Morse went on to produce the 2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, which explores the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, as well as Knox’s resulting imprisonment, retrials, and eventual acquittal. For his work, the film has been nominated for an Emmy award in the category of Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, “Without doubt this strong documentary sheds a powerful light on this particular case while emphasizing the ultimate unknowability of absolute truth.” While Benjamin Lee of The Guardian said, “It’s a carefully balanced and frightening film with Knox a terrifyingly unknowable character at the grisly center.”

Of the nomination, the Amanda Knox producer said in a press release, “I actually found out about our nomination through one of my MBA classmates. It was a fantastic surprise. I’m very proud of the film we made, and this nomination is a reflection on our hard work.”

As for Morse’s time as an MBA and how it inspired him in his filmmaking, it started with a lesson on lean production techniques taught by Operations Management Professor Matthias Holweg. This lesson inspired Morse and fellow MBA student Maria Springer to take a different approach to the film industry and found OBSERVATORY, a venture capital fund for the nonfiction film and TV industry.

“We’ve produced two films since we left Oxford. One we’re calling Wilders or EuroTrump depending on the market, and the other is called Freedom for the Wolf. Both are OBSERVATORY products and both used lean production techniques for maximum efficiency, which means we maintain great quality while keeping costs down,” Morse said.

But that’s not the only impact the MBA has had on Morse’s career. He also uses his alumni network whenever he has a business problem and needs advice. “To have that network of people who you can call on, and they can call on you, is one of the key benefits to the program,” Morse added.

 

Watch Amanda Knox, directed by Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn, on Netflix today.

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