Andrew Swant is an award-winning filmmaker based in Milwaukee. Swant co-wrote and starred as Jeffrey Dahmer in The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, a New York Times Critics’ Pick that premiered at SXSW and was acquired by IFC Films for broad distribution. He also co-wrote and produced Modus Operandi (starring Danny Trejo), which screened at AFI Fest, then found distribution with Kino Lorber, and received positive reviews from critics including Roger Ebert.
In 2007, Swant and collaborator Bobby Ciraldo created a hit viral video called What What (In the Butt), which has been featured on television, shown in art galleries, and watched over 74 million times on YouTube. The duo also co-directed William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet, an award-winning film starring William Shatner and Ben Folds which was distributed by Epix (Paramount/Lionsgate/MGM). In 2013, they released the Adult Swim On Cinema App featuring Tim Heidecker & Gregg Turkington. The following year they premiered Hamlet ADD, a sci-fi comedy featuring Dustin Diamond, at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
From 2015 to 2017 he edited three documentary features: Chasing Bubbles (watched over 2 million times), about a young man who attempts to sail around the world with no sailing experience; 30 Seconds Away (Amazon Prime Video), which follows six homeless men over the course of five years; and Civic Art, which explores the power of civic art within four South Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Swant recently directed Bon Iver: Autumn and Silently Steal Away (Hot Docs), both starring Grammy award winning musician Justin Vernon. He produced Mark Borchardt’s The Dundee Project (Slamdance, Fantastic Fest), and co-produced Give Me Liberty (Sundance, Cannes, MoMA), which was nominated for four 2020 Spirit Awards, won the John Cassavetes Award, and ranked #11 on The New York Times’s Best Movies of the Year list.
In 2020 he directed a Sylvan Esso music video for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and in 2022 he produced We Are Not Ghouls (SXSW Audience Award). He is currently directing a narrative feature, The Good Land, and producing a documentary feature, Out of the Picture.
His films have been released on Netflix, Sundance Now, Amazon, Hulu, AMC+, RedBox, iTunes, and have been covered by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Vice, Rolling Stone, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety. He was a 2014 Mary Nohl Fellow and a 2019 Brico Award recipient.
Commercial work includes clients such as Baird Financial, Aurora Health Care, The A.V. Club, Pick ‘n Save, Milwaukee Art Museum, Lakefront Brewery, Susan G. Komen, and the Kohler Art Center.
Before becoming a full-time filmmaker he worked as a pizza delivery driver, substitute teacher, dog walker, art handler, video store clerk, and watercolor instructor. In his spare time he enjoys Star Trek, horror films, and mysteries.
FILMOGRAPHY
- William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet – Co-Director
- The Jeffrey Dahmer Files – Actor, Writer
- What What (In the Butt) – Director, Writer, Producer
- Bon Iver: Autumn – Director
- Modus Operandi – Producer, Writer, Actor
- Hamlet A.D.D. – Director, Actor, Writer
- Give Me Liberty – Co-Producer
- Silently Steal Away – Director
- We Are Not Ghouls – Producer
- Sylvan Esso – “Rewind” – Director
- The Dundee Project – Producer
- Chasing Bubbles – Editor/Story
- The Found Footage Show – Director, Producer
- Lenore Tawney: Mirror of the Universe – Director, Editor
- 30 Seconds Away – Editor/Story
- Civic Art – Editor/Story
- Something Theater – Director, Writer
Andrew Swant on IMDb