John Swab

Born right in the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma, John Swab’s got filmmaking in his DNA. If you’ve caught even a whiff of indie cinema lately, you’ve probably stumbled across his work—he’s the guy behind King Ivory (2024), Candy Land (2022), and Bund Maro (2021). Swab’s style? Gritty, raw, and honestly, not afraid to get a little messy. He doesn’t go for the Hollywood polish; instead, he digs deep into the darker corners of real life. His movies have this punch—you feel them in your gut, you know? King Ivory, for example, takes a hard look at the opioid crisis, but it’s not just another “issue film.” Swab pulls you into the lives of characters caught up in the chaos, making you care about people most folks overlook. Candy Land? That one’s a wild, neon-soaked ride through the truck-stop sex work underbelly. It’s bold and doesn’t bother sugarcoating a thing. And then there’s Bund Maro, which, let’s be real, doesn’t shy away from the rough edges of the criminal world either. Swab’s background in Oklahoma definitely shows—there’s this sense of place in all his films, like you can smell the dust and diesel. He’s not making movies for people who want to escape; he’s making movies for people who want to feel something real, even if it stings a bit. If you’re tired of cookie-cutter plots and pretty faces, John Swab’s filmography is a solid rabbit hole. Just don’t expect to come out the same.