How Arts and Letters and FTT formed the foundation for husband-and-wife filmmaking duo’s Hollywood success

Christine Swanson ’94 has written and directed multiple award-winning films. Her husband, Michael Swanson ’93, is an Emmy-winning producer and studio executive who has worked on hit Universal Television shows including Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Master of None, and The Good Place. 

But until they saw acclaimed director Spike Lee speak at Notre Dame in 1991, neither realized that filmmaking could be a viable career path for them. 

“Something went off in my head, because I had never seen a filmmaker before,” Christine said. “And it had never dawned on me that I could make movies for a living. And I kid you not, by the time Spike Lee left campus, I changed my major, and so did Michael. 

“And it’s funny, we ended up in the same classes together, and we just came into the business and the education of filmmaking at the same time. And lo and behold, we’re still doing it together.”

The married Department of Film, Television, and Theatre alumni make movies together through their Los Angeles-based production company, Faith Filmworks.

Grounded in their Notre Dame liberal arts education and inspired by their deep Christian faith, Christine and Michael Swanson continue to use their skills to tell the type of uplifting stories they feel are missing from big Hollywood studios.