The two operate Highway Films, and produced and directed the 1999 documentary On the Ropes. The film follows the experiences of three young boxers from the ghetto who share a trainer, their surprising and tragic stories interwoven via circumstance and shared experience. The doc makes use of edits, sound design, style and structure drawn from polished drama techniques, not unlike commercials.

"Commercials are a natural extension of the work we've been doing for the last few years. We've started seeing a ton of reality-based commercials on TV and realized it was time to get involved," says Morgen. Burstein adds: "We didn't get into non-fiction for political reasons, we like crafting stories from real people and real events." Morgen focuses on visuals (photography) while Burstein handles structure (edits and sound design), experience they feel can be applied to commercial films.

"Even if we are not personally doing the shooting or editing, we know what coverage we need and how it will come together," says Burstein. While On the Ropes allowed the team to tell a strong character-based story, Burstein says their forté is humor.

"The style we employed for On the Ropes was probably more traditional than our natural inclinations: a three-act dramatic narrative without V/O or omniscient narration," says Morgen. "We try to employ every technique we know from drama to non-fiction film: scoring, standard and reverse shots. The filmmakers we are drawn to are Todd Philips, Errol Morris and Chris Smith. If you look at non-fiction filmmakers who've had success in commercials, they just felt more comfortable there than in fiction."

The pair are currently finishing their latest doc The Kid Stays in the Picture, based on the memoirs of legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans. The antithesis of On the Ropes, the film uses graphics contributed by the ATTIK, New York. The film uses Evan's narration from the audio book adaptation combined with images and archival footage depicting his life.

"We collaborated with the ATTIK to make it really come alive and the style is old school and romantic, going back to Latin clubs in the 1950s; a retro look with digital techniques," says Burstein. Morgen elaborates: "It's a visually sublime experience, the non-fiction Fantasia."

The Kid Stays in the Picture will premiere at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.