Eric Swinderman is an American writer, director and producer. He is most widely known for the films Clean and The Anniversary and the 1990s' sketch comedy series The Assassin Squad. Swinderman was a founding member of CINEMA Cleveland, a nonprofit organization that promotes independent film in the greater Cleveland.

Early life

Swinderman was born in Dover, Ohio

Dover, Ohio

Dover is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 12,210 at the 2000 census.-History and features:Dover was originally part of a grant to Col. James Morrison of Kentucky, who had received it from the federal government for Revolutionary War services...

 and grew up in the small town of New Philadelphia

New Philadelphia, Ohio

New Philadelphia is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, 71 miles south of Cleveland on the Tuscarawas River. It was first incorporated in 1808. Coal and clay are found in the vicinity...

. A graduate of Cleveland State University’s

Cleveland State University

Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...

 School of Communication, he studied film and television production and dramatic arts. It was while attending CSU that he formed the sketch comedy group The Underground, which was later renamed The Assassin Squad.

Career

Swinderman’s first big break came while working on the set of the film Dreaming on Christmas (2005) starring Danny Trejo and Nick Mancuso, as the director of the film’s behind the scenes documentary featurettes.

In 2006 Swinderman, along with producer and friend Mark Pengryn, formed the nonprofit organization CINEMA Cleveland. Working with The Greater Cleveland Film Commission

Cleveland Film Commission

The Greater Cleveland Film Commission is a 501 private non-profit organization. Its mission is to promote increased production of film, television, video and other types of media in Northeast Ohio to generate economic benefits for the region and increased job training and job opportunity for its...

 and other organizations CINEMA Cleveland serves as resource for local filmmakers and actors, helping to fund and promote locally produced independent films.

In 2007 Swinderman went on to write and direct Clean, a 42-minute short film about a man of god dealing with his inner demons. The film stars Victor Kuehn, Patricia Valestin, Troy Field, Christina Capadona and Daniel Lentz. It was a hit at the Cleveland Grindhouse Film Festival.

Swinderman followed up with The Anniversary, and award winning short film produced for The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s 2009 Scary Film Competition. The film, written and directed by Swinderman, screened at the Cleveland Truly Independent Film Festival and stars Deanna Cechowski and Thom Cechowski.

In 2011, Swinderman began working on a feature length documentary about internet-marketing guru Greg Clement and his company Realeflow. The film focuses heavily on the economic hardships facing his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. The film is due out in the fall of 2011.

External links

1. CINEMA Cleveland Website

2. Eric Swinderman Official Site