Peter Swanson

This book grew out of Peter's work producing and directing the film, "Let There Be Light." This film follows Rowan LeCompte making his last window for Washington National Cathedral. The film won “Best of the Festival” at the DC Independent Film festival and is available on Amazon Prime.

Over the last 20 years Peter Swanson has travelled the world producing a variety of projects related to the world of water. Chief among these is his work as series director on “Water - the Drop of Life.” This six-hour series is a global look at the world’s fresh water supply. Shot in super 16mm film in 31 countries, the series features interviews with notable personalities such as former President Jimmy Carter, the Dahli Lama, Michail Gorbachev, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Shimon Peres and Queen Noor of Jordan. It explores a range of issues from water in agriculture and industry to water in religion to the possibility of armed conflicts of water. The series has been broadcast in over 50 countries.

He also co-produced a six-part series on global poverty issues called, “A Dollar A Day.” This series was filmed in 8 countries and explores issues of access to things like markets, capital, water and healthcare.

Peter has recntly finished producing and directing the media for The Orange County Water District’s new hallway exhibit. In addition he produced and directed all the segments for the “National Demonstration Education and Engagment Program” for the Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence. This project aims to create a library of educational tools to help change the way people think about water recycling. It included an interactive map or water recycling facilities around the world, interviews with water experts answering FAQs about water recycling, a ten-minute short video about the urban water cycle and numerous animations.

For WaterReuse he recently produced a series of videos about water reuse and agriculture. Shot in California and Minnesota, these videos show innovative ideas being put into practice.

Also in Australia, Peter served as producer/director for a short program on water purification that is the centrepiece of the Water Corporation visitors centre at their advanced water treatment pilot project. This program presents water purification within the lager frame of the water cycle and Western Australia’s need to develop a pan to meet the challenges of climate change.

He produced a series of short videos for Clean Water Services, in Oregon, that will play on the Fernhill wetlands website. Entitled “The Voices of Fernhill Wetlands,” the series consists of sixteen profiles of people within the community who care deeply about these wetlands and are supporting the utility’s plan for renovating wetlands as part of an innovative natural water treatment process.

For the ConocoPhillips Water Sustainability Center in Doha, Qatar, he produced a video that plays on a “Magic Planet” spherical projection system. This video links the local need to conserve water with the growing global need to preserve our water resources.

For the United Nations in 2003, Peter produced a video and travelling exhibit for the yearlong celebration “International Year of Fresh Water.” The exhibit was represented the UN at the World Water Forum in Johannesburg and was displayed in the lobby of the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the UN headquarters in New York.

Also for the United Nations he served as Producer/Creative Director for a web site entitled “60 Ways The UN Has Made A Difference” for the 60th anniversary of the UN.

For Rotary International, Swanson produced a video that highlights Rotary’s efforts to solve some of the monumental water problems in the developing world. This program demonstrates low-cost, but highly effective ideas for bringing clean water to the poorest of the poor. It is being used to encourage Rotary clubs around the world to adopt water projects.