Josh Swade is an American documentary filmmaker and author, working primarily in the sports and music genres. His feature films include ''Ricky Powell: The Individualist'', about street photographer

Ricky Powell Ricky Powell (November 20, 1961February 1, 2021) was an American photographer who documented popular culture including hip hop, punk rock, graffiti, and pop art. His photographs have been featured in ''The New York Times'', the ''New York Po ...

, which premiered on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

in 2021; '' One & Done'', about basketball player

Ben Simmons Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the LSU Tigers, after which he was ...

, which premiered on Showtime in 2016; and the 2012

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' documentary ''There's No Place Like Home''. He has directed and produced several ESPN ''30 for 30 Shorts'', and several short films on popular musicians, including

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing thei ...

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popu ...

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after t ...

, and

Gary Clark Jr. Gary Lee Clark Jr. (born February 15, 1984) is an American musician from Austin, Texas. He is known for his fusion of blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop. In 2011, Clark signed with Warner Bros Records and released ''The Brig ...

He also wrote the book ''The Holy Grail of Hoops: One Fan's Quest to Buy the Original Rules of Basketball''.

Early life and education

Swade was born in Kansas City, Missouri.Rustin Dodd
“Review: ‘There’s No Place Like Home’, the quest for Naismith’s Rules,”
''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and ...

'', October 13, 2012. He attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

,Nicholas Hirshon
“University of Kansas grad David Booth scores original basketball rules for $4.3M at memorabilia sale,”
''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Ta ...

'', December 11, 2010. before transferring to

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pr ...

.Bill DiFilippo
“For The Holy Grail of Hoops, There’s No Place Like Home,”
''

SLAM Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-bal ...

'', July 30, 2013.

Career

Music

Following his graduation, Swade worked in A&R at

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

, before co-founding the record labels

Young American Recordings Young American Recordings was an American record label based in New York City. Founded by Rocco Giordano of Kinetic Records and Josh Swade of Maverick Records, it was an independent label that included groups such as British rock band South and w ...

in 2005 and

+1 Records +1 Records was founded in 2008 as a music management, publicity & marketing company. From 2014, +1 Records was distributed by Lyor Cohen's 300 Entertainment. In 2018, +1 Records partnered with Empire Distribution. Notable artists * Anna of the No ...

in 2008.Rustin Dodd
“A look at the new documentary on Naismith’s Rules,”
''Kansas City Star'', August 23, 2012. In 2014, +1 Records became a division of

Lyor Cohen Lyor Cohen born October 3, 1959) is an American record executive and entrepreneur. Cohen has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def J ...

300 Entertainment Theory Entertainment LLC, doing business as 300 Entertainment, is an American record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Roger Gold. The label's roster includes acts across multiple genres such as hip hop, rock, pop, el ...

. In 2018, +1 Records partnered with

Empire Distribution EMPIRE Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (marketed as EMPIRE) is an American distribution company and record label founded in by Ghazi Shami with offices in New York City, London, Nashville, and Atlanta. It has released albums in vario ...

Filmmaking

In November 2010, Swade read a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' story that

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

's original

rules of basketball The rules of basketball are the rules and regulations that govern the play, officiating, equipment and procedures of basketball. While many of the basic rules are uniform throughout the world, variations do exist. Most leagues or governing bodie ...

would be auctioned off on December 10, 2010. The ensuing 2012

'' documentary ''There's No Place Like Home'' follows Swade, a lifelong

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

fan, on his attempt to win the auction so that the rules could be housed at the

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2020 census ...

, where Naismith coached and taught for the majority of his career.“30 for 30 doc There’s No Place Like Home earns standing O at premiere,”
ESPN Front Row, October 16, 2012. University of Kansas alumnus David Booth and his wife paid $4,338,500 for the rules of basketball, setting a record for the highest sales price for sports memorabilia, according to

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, which conducted the auction. ''There's No Place Like Home'' premiered on ESPN on October 16, 2012.Adam Friedgood
“ESPN 30 for 30: A Review of ‘There’s No Place Like Home’,”

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Au ...

, October 16, 2012. In 2013, Swade’s book ''The Holy Grail of Hoops: One Fan's Quest to Buy the Original Rules of Basketball'' was published, with an afterword by University of Kansas basketball head coach

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

. It was based on the events in ''There's No Place Like Home''. In 2014, Swade began work on ''#BringBackSungWoo'', a ''30 for 30 Shorts'' documentary which follows Sung Woo Lee, a South Korean longtime fan of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

.Reeves Wiedeman
“Good-Luck Charm,”
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'', November 3, 2014.“Royals superfan Sung Woo Lee will be back in Kansas City for Game 1 of the World Series,”