Joshua Davis (writer)
American writer, film producer and co-founder of Epic Magazine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joshua Davis (born 1974) is an American writer, film producer and co-founder of Epic Magazine.[1]
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- Writer
- journalist
- filmmaker
- co-founder of Epic Magazine
Joshua Davis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1974 (age 51–52) |
| Occupation |
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| Nationality | American |
| Website | |
| www | |
Early life
Davis is the son of Miss Nevada winner Janet Hadland and Highlander film producer Peter S. Davis.[2] Davis attended Stanford University, where he double majored in Economics and Modern Thought and Literature.[3]
Career
Davis wrote the New York Times bestselling book Spare Parts, which grew out of his article "La Vida Robot."[4] The story follows the lives of four teenage immigrants who built an underwater robot. The book was a finalist for Columbia University's J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize[5] and was adapted into the movie Spare Parts by Lionsgate starring George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis and Marisa Tomei. It premiered in January 2015.[6]
In 2012, Davis was kidnapped in Libya while reporting an article for Men's Journal.[7] Later that year, he lived with John McAfee in Belize and documented McAfee's lifestyle and legal problems, including allegations of murder.[8] In 2003, Davis covered the Iraq war for Wired.[9] For The New Yorker in 2011, Davis wrote about bitcoin when the cryptocurrency was worth five dollars.[10] He has also profiled Elon Musk multiple times, including a 2010 Wired cover story[11] and in an early in-depth article about Tesla.[12]
Davis' first book, The Underdog, was published by Random House in 2005.[13] It chronicles Davis' entry into unusual competitions around the world, including the US Sumo Open[14] and the World Armwrestling Championship in Gdynia, Poland. Davis documented his time as a competitive arm wrestler in the film "The Beast Within," which won best documentary at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival.[15]
In 2013, Davis and Joshuah Bearman formed Epic Magazine,[16] a magazine and production company specializing in unusual true stories.[17] Davis and Bearman have sold more than fifty articles to Hollywood, with four films and two TV series produced.[18] Davis, in partnership with J. J. Abrams and Bad Robot, also produced the short documentary series "Moon Shot," which chronicles the work of those competing for the Google Lunar X Prize.[19]
Awards
- 2003 Winner of Best Documentary at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival for The Beast Within[20]
- 2014 Finalist for the National Magazine Award in Feature Writing for "John McAfee's Last Stand"[21]
- 2015 Finalist for the Columbia School of Journalism's Lukas Prize for Spare Parts[22][23]
- 2021 Finalist for an Independent Spirit Award as an Executive Producer of Little America
- 2022 Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival as an Executive Producer of Breaking
- 2023 Winner of the Audience Award for Best Film at the Sundance Film Festival as a Producer of Radical[24]
Filmography
| Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Coast | Yes | Yes | Yes | [25] |
| The Beast Within | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Sun Also Sets | Yes | Yes | Yes | [26] |
| Moonshot | No | No | Yes | [27] |
| The Debater | Yes | No | Yes | [28] |
| Spare Parts | No | Yes | No | |
| Little America | No | No | Yes | |
| Breaking | No | No | Yes | [29] |
| Radical | No | No | Yes | [30] |
| The Big Cigar | No | No | Yes | [31] |
Bibliography
Books
- The Underdog, 2006
- Entrenched, 2011[32]
- McAfee's Last Stand, 2012
- Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, 2014
Articles
- "If We Run Out Of Batteries, This War Is Screwed," Wired, June 1, 2003
- "La Vida Robot," Best of Technology Writing, 2006[33]
- "Say Hello to Stanley," Best of Technology Writing, 2007
- "Face Blind," Best American Science Writing, 2007[34]
- "The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist," Wired, March 12, 2009[35]
- "The Crypto Currency," The New Yorker, October 10, 2011
- "Fox Makes Epic First-Look Deal for Online Venture for Film Centric Journalism," Deadline, August 19, 2013
- "Magazine Writing, On the Web, for Film," The New York Times, August 11, 2013[36]
- "The Mercenary," Medium, August 19, 2013[37]
- "Building An Epic Brand Around Incredible True Stories," Fast Company, August 23, 2013[38]
- "Pipino: Gentleman Thief," Epic Magazine, 2014[39]
- "Deep Sea Cowboys," Epic Magazine, 2017[40]
- "Arab Spring Break," Epic Magazine, 2017[41]