From writing screenplays and novels to directing independent films, Greg W. Swartz is, first and foremost, a storyteller. This up and coming writer/director looks for the comedy and drama in everyday reality and translates that into his scripts. To Swartz, comedy occurs when the reality of things has so chipped away at the ideal, that the result is nothing like the expectation.

Swartz grew up in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Like so many in his generation, his love of cinema began the first time he saw Star War (he saw it 17 times in the theater). His infatuation for the medium continued to grow and films as varied as Harold and Maude and Iron Eagleonly reinforced his passion. This was who he wanted to be - a filmmaker. Swartz attended Millersville University and worked for the daily newspaper The Lancaster New Era as an entertainment writer. Eager to see and meet new people/characters, he quit the newspaper and moved to Ireland to work on his writing. He came back to Pennsylvania, got his old job back, but soon moved on, this time to Napa (living in a tent) and finally to Los Angeles. After spending a year working at Warner Bros., Swartz moved into commercial production, eventually opening his own banner, Keystone Media Works. His clients have included Kia, BMW, Media100, Gray and Mosaic Advertising.

As a writer, Swartz likes to undermine his characters' expectations as a way of opening their eyes to a bigger truth (and by that he means a smaller truth). He likes to force his characters to accept those truths - to see life as it really it is. "I'm not a moralist but there is a sense of pride in the personal anarchy of my characters. They're going to do what they want. What they feel they need to do," says Swartz.

His writing credits include Part-Time Married, Miscellaneous, Monumental, The Grimshaw Fingersand G-Minor, the collection of short stories about growing up and his love of music. He also co-wrote Enid-11and The Gordons at the End of the World, whichhas been picked up by Santa Monica based commercial house Block/Carter. The script is a darkly, comic take on the Three Mile Island incident in 1979.

His directorial debut Another Harvest Moonis being very well-received by critics. With a stellar cast and two Audience Choice awards, the film is about four elderly Americans coping with life in a nursing home. The film stars Ernest Borgnine, Piper Laurie, Doris Roberts, Cybill Shepherd, Anne Meara and Richard Schiff. He also directed and produced the short comedy Dead Ronnie.While being a huge fan of directors like Woody Allen, Alexander Payne, Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers, he does not copy their style, but samples their directorial approach in illustrating the makeup of his own characters. The idea of jokes in dark or tragic situations or embracing a character's dysfunction that is complete and funny but also organic, appeals to Swartz. His goal is to make films that have a strong and unapologetic sense of Hollywood style and production value, but the stories are still very personal and human.

Swartz lives in Los Feliz and is writing his first novel, Seen The Rain.