Gig Morton

Gig Morton (born March 22, 1996) is a Canadian actor and podcast host. Beginning a professional career as a child actor at the age of nine, Morton is a six time Young Artist Award nominee, best known for his role as B-Dawg's boy, "Billy" in four installments of the Air Buddies film franchise, Air Buddies, Snow Buddies, Space Buddies, and Santa Buddies, as well as for his co-starring role as "Derby" on the Canadian television show, Mr. Young.

Gig Morton
Born (1996-03-22) March 22, 1996
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationActor
Years active2005–present
WebsiteGigMorton.com

Early life

Gig Morton was born March 22, 1996 in Comox, British Columbia.[1] "Gig" is Morton's given name and, when asked about where the name originated during an interview with Celebuzz, Morton explained—"It's actually my real name that's on my birth certificate. It's a funny story: when my dad was little—my dad's name is Gary—his little brother couldn't say Gary, so he called him ‘Gig’ and that became his nickname. And everyone calls him Gig besides my Nana, my dad’s mom."[2]

Raised in Courtenay, British Columbia, Morton began acting at the age of seven when his sisters were doing community theatre.[2][3] His mother and his sisters convinced him to audition, and he ended up landing his first role in the Rainbow Youth Theatre's production of The Wizard of Oz.[1][2][4] After discovering his love for musical theatre, Morton would go on to appear in numerous musical stage productions, including lead roles in the Vanier Senior Secondary's production of Adventures in the Forest, the Red Room Studio's production of Oliver! and the Courtenay Little Theatre's production of Peter Pan.[5]

Career

Morton began his professional acting career in 2005 at the age of nine,[1] appearing in a commercial for Save-On-Foods, and has since appeared in numerous commercials for Aviva Insurance, Kellogg's and Mattel among others.[5] In 2006, Morton made his film debut, appearing as the boy (known in later films as "Billy") selected to adopt the golden retriever puppy, "B-Dawg" in the Disney family comedy, Air Buddies, and made his television debut the following year with a small guest-starring role on the detective series, Psych.[4][6]

In 2008, Morton reprised his role as "Billy" in the second installment of the Air Buddies franchise, Snow Buddies, and landed his first starring role in the black comedy short film The Escape of Conrad Lard-Bottom.[4][6][7] Later that same year he starred in the holiday fantasy film, Christmas Town as "Mason McCann", a boy who, along with his mother, discovers a town where Santa Claus and his elves are working.[6] These roles earned Morton a total of three Young Artist Award nominations the following year as "Best Young Actor in a DVD film" for his role as "Billy" in Snow Buddies, "Best Young Actor in a Short Film" for his role as "Conrad Lard-Bottom" in The Escape of Conrad Lard-Bottom and "Best Young Actor in a TV Movie" for his role as "Mason McCann" in Christmas Town.[7]

In 2009, Morton appeared as "Tommy Shatterfield" in the pilot for the family television drama, Mistresses, and as "John" in the western television movie, Angel and the Bad Man.[6][8] That same year, he once again reprised his role as "Billy" in the third and fourth installments of the Air Buddies franchise, Space Buddies and Santa Buddies.[4][6] Morton was once again recognized with two Young Artist Award nominations the following year as "Best Supporting Actor in a TV Movie" for his role as "John" in Angel and the Bad Man and as "Best Young Actor in a DVD Film" for his role as "Billy" in Santa Buddies.[8]

In 2010, Morton guest-starred on the crime series Shattered as "Stephen Alvert", the son of a wealthy German immigrant who is being investigated for murder.[4][6] His dramatic performance earned him his sixth Young Artist Award nomination the following year as "Best Young Guest-Starring Actor, age 14-17, in a TV Series".[9] In 2011, Morton appeared in a co-starring role as "Carl", one of three travelers who share a taxi with a slacker who believes he is Jesus in the comedy short, Jesus, Chris.[10] That same year, Morton landed a co-starring role on the teen situation comedy, Mr. Young, playing "Derby", the naive, but loyal best friend to a 14-year-old boy genius, played by Brendan Meyer, who takes a job as a high school science teacher.[2][4][11][12][13]

Morton hosts a video podcast called Gig and Erika are Kids These Days.[14]

Personal life

Morton resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. He attended school on the set of Mr. Young alongside his fellow co-stars, Brendan Meyer and Matreya Fedor.[4][15] At age ten, after discovering his passion for musical theatre and dance, Morton began taking performance arts classes, studying acting, singing, guitar, hip-hop dancing, tap dancing and ballet.[1][2][3][4][16] Morton's hobbies and activities have included swimming, skateboarding, fencing, biking, soccer, basketball, trampoline, yo-yo tricks, video games, and robot building.[1][2]

Filmography
Film
YearFilmRoleNotes
2006 Air Buddies B-Dawg Boy (aka: Billy) Direct-to-DVD
2008 Snow Buddies Billy Direct-to-DVD
The Escape of Conrad Lard-Bottom Conrad Lard-Bottom Short film
Christmas Town Mason Direct-to-DVD
2009 Space Buddies Billy
Santa Buddies
2010 Elopement Skateboard kid Feature film
2011 Jesus Chris Carl Short film
2019 Thirty-Seventeen Shawn Feature film
2019 Falling Upwards Ethan Short film
Television
YearShowRoleNotes
2007 Psych Finn Episode: "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy"
2008 Past Lies Jacob TV movie
Fear Itself Sean Mahoney Episode: "Family Man"
2009 Mistresses Tommy Satterfield Pilot
Impact Markus Miniseries: Part 2
Angel and the Bad Man John TV movie
2011–2013 Mr. Young Derby Co-starring
2014 My Mother's Future Husband Willis TV movie
2016 Stranger in the House Thomas TV movie
2016 Supernatural Elijah Peterson Episode: "American Nightmare"
2016 Some Assembly Required Claude Brulee Episode: "Claude's Kitchen"
2018 Hot and Funny Episode: "Try Being Ugly"

Awards
Awards
YearAwardCategoryFilm/SeriesResultRef.
2009 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Short Film - Young Actor The Escape of Conrad Lard-bottom Nominated [7]
Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special - Leading Young Actor Christmas Town Nominated [7]
Best Performance in a DVD Film Snow Buddies Nominated [7]
2010 Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special - Supporting Actor Angel and the Bad Man Nominated [8]
Best Performance in a DVD Film Santa Buddies Nominated [8]
2011 Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 14-17 Shattered Nominated [9]

References
  1. "About - Gig Morton". GigMorton.com. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  2. "The Meet & Greet: Gig Morton, Disney's 'Mr. Young' Star". CeleBuzz.com. September 25, 2011. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. "Young Brendan does adult job on new series". Edmonton Journal. March 1, 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  4. "Exclusive Interview: Gig Morton". PopStar.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  5. "Credits - Gig Morton". GigMorton.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  6. "Actor Gig Morton nominated for multiple Young Artist Awards". PRLog.org. March 8, 2010.
  7. "30th Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  8. "31st Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  9. "32nd Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  10. "'Jesus Chris' - About The Film". BigWheelPictures.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  11. "Exclusive Q & A: Mr. Young's Gig Morton". FanLala.com. September 22, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  12. "Hollywood-sized success for a 'made-in-Burnaby' TV show". BurnabyNow.com. September 16, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28.
  13. "Disney buys Vancouver-made kids TV show". TheProvince.com. September 7, 2011.
  14. "Gig and Erika are Kids These Days", YouTube.
  15. "Stars of YTV's Mr. Young on Urban Rush". UrbanRushShawTV4. February 21, 2011.
  16. "Training - Gig Morton". GigMorton.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
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