Andrea Swift

Andrea Swift migrated to New York on a fellowship to Columbia University, following the success of her first documentary, “Deafsmith: a nuclear folktale” – which had aired internationally, and screened at the United Nations Earth Summit, and for key members of Congress. An Official Selection of Sundance’s Environmental Film Festival, it also won Silver at The Chicago International Film Festival.

She has since amassed a successful career, writing, producing, and/ or directing a wide-ranging body of work, including films honored with the Panorama Award at The Berlin International Film Festival, a Best of Festival screening at Raindance International Film Festival, a DGA Award and selection for Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films. Television honors include two Telly Awards and a Scriptapalooza TV award for her original pilot, CATCH.

As Director, then Executive Producer of the PBS series, “In the Life”, Swift dramatically raised the production values, profile, and ratings of the three-time Emmy Award nominee – without increasing its budget. She wrote for, and directed talent as diverse as Alan Cumming, Ossie Davis, Susan Saradon, Laura Linney, Harvey Fierstein, Cherry Jones and RuPaul. Additional series honors included three Telly Awards, the Seigenthaler Award for "excellence in network television," a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV Journalism-Newsmagazine" and selection for the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s “Legacy” project.

The Independent magazine named The Documentary Department Swift chairs at New York Film Academy, one of the “10 Best Academic Programs for Documentary Filmmakers.” This year’s Academy Award nominated documentary, “The Square,” was shot and co-produced by one of its many successful graduates.

In addition to teaching, Swift now focuses on story producing, writing, and creative producing. She’s currently writing, “The Spirit of Discovery,” and writing/producing “The Best Little Sports Story Never Told,” both feature documentaries. As Consulting Producer / Creative Consultant, she collaborates on story and production concerns, and generates inventive outreach and “tent-pole” strategies, harnessing the power of Hollywood’s franchise model to serve social issue documentaries. Current clients include David Lynch Foundation, MDS Productions, and The Crossing Cultural Borders Project - a featured progra