Alan Swyer has been writer, director, and/or producer for film, television, music videos, and commercials ranging from HBO’s much-honored “Rebound” with Don Cheadle, Forrest Whitaker, and James Earl Jones to “The Buddy Holly Story;” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” In the realm of documentaries, “Beisbol,” narrated by Andy Garcia, won the Imagen Award winner for best feature-length documentary, while “Diabetes: Challenges & Breakthroughs” won a Golden Mic Award for best TV documentary. Other feted films include “Spiritual Revolution,” “It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing,” “Leimert Park,” and the recent festival hit “El Boxeo.” Plus, he spent time at the beach as showrunner on LA’s own “Baywatch.” His most recent film is “From Harlem To Hollywood” about musical legend Billy Vera, a festival hit which also screened at the Grammy Museum.
In the music business he has worked with artists such as Solomon Burke, Billy Preston, and Jerry Butler, and produced an album of Ray Charles love songs, as well as writing liner notes for scores of CDs.
His short stories have appeared in Ireland, England, Germany, India, and in many American publications and anthologies. His novel “The Beard” was published recently by Harvard Square Editions.
An activist of note, he created, together with the Presiding Judge of Juvenile and the Chief Probation Officer, Los Angeles County’s highly successful Teen Court program.
He has been a faculty member at the American Film Institute, USC, Pepperdine, and Chapman University. Fluent in French, he taught a writing-directing workshop at France’s Universite de l’Ete. He has also presided over two week-long screenwriting workshops in Singapore.
Mr. Swyer is a member of the Board of Directors of the Compton Baseball Academy as well as of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame. For several years he was also in the Board of the Institute of Advanced Journalism at North Carolina A&T.