James A. Swan

James is a Co-Executive Producer for the "Wild Justice" TV series on the National Geographic Channel, which is inspired by a document5ary that he produced through his own production company, Snow Goose Productions, LLC.He grew up on a Michigan island in Lake Erie, Grosse Ile. In high school he won awards in football, golf and archery, and began his acting career with the role of "Charlie Davenport" in the Senior Class play, "Annie Get Your Gun." At the University of Michigan, he played intercollegiate football and rugby (leading scorer, l963), placed second in intramural golf and earned a BS, MS and Ph.D in environmental studies and psychology, and studied TV production at the U. of M TV Center.He paid his way through graduate school as the environmental education coordinator for the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Public Schools, leading field trips for thousands of children. In l970 he was one of the producers of the nation's largest college Earth Day teach-in. That same year he appeared at 22 teach-ins across the US, speaking and playing music, and he wrote and hosted his first documentaries on air pollution and pesticides in 1970-71 for the U of M TV Center.He's been a college professor of ecology and psychology at the Universities of Michigan, Western Washington State, Oregon, and Washington. From l974-l982 he coached a number of world-class athletes.James has lectured widely across North America, and in Japan and England for audiences up to several thousand, and has made guest appearances on Donahue, Good Morning America, CBC and NHK, and appeared on the Sightings, Modern Marvels, and Ancient Mysteries TV series.James' screen acting career began as an extra in the movie "Tucker: The Man and His Dream"when he was placed in a scene with Martin Landau, who encouraged him to pursue acting. He studied at the SAG Conservancy and has been coached by Anne Brebner. He frequently plays action roles and was Patrick Stewart's stunt double in "Star Trek First Contact." Kevin Bacon's escort guard in "Murder In the First" and was the phys.ed teacher in "Jack" competing for J.Lo. with Robin Williams.He has performed folk, rock and country music since the l960's and is a member of ASCAP. In 2003, his song, "The Solution to Pollution," won "Best Country Song" in the ZAP Pollution Solution national contest.James enjoys many outdoor sports (Outward Bound Certified Whitewater Instructor) and has hosted two outdoor outdoor TV shows, "Sports Afield TV," and "The Shooters," as well as writing over 70 Outdoor TV shows.From 2001 to 2010 he was a Contributing Editor for ESPNOutdoors.com and a featured expert for the ESPNOutdoors special "The Wrath of Hurricane Katrina." He's a regular contributor to the Outdoor Wire, and several outdoor magazines.The author of 10 popular non-fiction books that have sold well over 250,000 copies worldwide. James' books often show the psychology of environmental conservation, and have common theme of integrating ancient wisdom with modern science. From l988 to 1993, he and his wife, Roberta, produced five annual Spirit of Place Symposiums in the US and Japan, featuring 350 speakers with over 10,000 attending. Members of 20 different American Indian tribes, Australian Aborigines, Polynesian, Inuit and African cultural representatives participated, and there were concerts with Paul Horn, R. Carlos Nakai, Anna Halprin, and the Japanese fusion Band Earth Spirit.In 2002 James and his son, Andrew, founded Snow Goose Productions. They since have several produced documentaries, pilots for reality TV shows, commercials, book trailers and were a field unit for "Wild Justice." Show less «