Joshua Davis (writer)

Joshua Davis
Born1974 (age 51–52)
Occupations
  • Writer
  • journalist
  • filmmaker
  • co-founder of Epic Magazine
Websitewww.joshuadavis.net

Joshua Davis (born 1974) is an American writer, film producer and co-founder of Epic Magazine.[1]

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]

In 2019, Epic Magazine was acquired by Vox Media for an undisclosed sum. [20]

In 2025, Penguin Random House published The Uncertainty Principle, a young adult novel co-authored by Davis and his son Kal Kini-Davis.[21] The book was a 2026 Rainbow List Young Adult Pick.[22]

Also in 2025, Davis executive produced the documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery[23], about the music festival founded by Sarah Machlachlan, and The Merchants of Joy, which chronicles the lives and businesses of the suppliers of Christmas trees to New York City.[24] The Merchants of Joy was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Documentary.[25]

Awards

  • 2003 Winner of Best Documentary at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival for The Beast Within[26]
  • 2014 Finalist for the National Magazine Award in Feature Writing for "John McAfee's Last Stand"[27]
  • 2015 Finalist for the Columbia School of Journalism's Lukas Prize for Spare Parts[28][29]
  • 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[30]
  • 2026 Emmy Nomination for Best Documentary as a Producer of The Merchants of Joy[31]

Filmography

Title Director Writer Producer Ref.
West Coast Yes Yes Yes [32]
The Beast Within Yes Yes Yes
The Sun Also Sets Yes Yes Yes [33]
Moonshot No No Yes [34]
The Debater Yes No Yes [35]
Spare Parts No Yes No
Little America No No Yes
Breaking No No Yes [36]
Radical No No Yes [37]
The Big Cigar No No Yes [38]
Lilith Fair No No Yes [39]
The Merchants of Joy No No Yes [40]

Bibliography

Books

  • The Underdog, 2006
  • Entrenched, 2011[41]
  • McAfee's Last Stand, 2012
  • Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, 2014
  • The Uncertainty Principle, 2025

Articles

  • "If We Run Out Of Batteries, This War Is Screwed," Wired, June 1, 2003
  • "La Vida Robot," Best of Technology Writing, 2006[42]
  • "Say Hello to Stanley," Best of Technology Writing, 2007
  • "Face Blind," Best American Science Writing, 2007[43]
  • "The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist," Wired, March 12, 2009[44]
  • "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[45]
  • "The Mercenary," Medium, August 19, 2013[46]
  • "Building An Epic Brand Around Incredible True Stories," Fast Company, August 23, 2013[47]
  • "Pipino: Gentleman Thief," Epic Magazine, 2014[48]
  • "Deep Sea Cowboys," Epic Magazine, 2017[49]
  • "Arab Spring Break," Epic Magazine, 2017[50]

References

  1. ↑ "Building An Epic Brand Around Incredible, True Stories". Fast Company. 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-09-08. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  2. ↑ "Peter S. Davis, 'Highlander' Producer, Dies at 79". The Hollywood Reporter. 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  3. ↑ "Convocation speakers extol active learning, exploring new experiences".
  4. ↑ Davis, Joshua. "La Vida Robot". Wired.
  5. ↑ "Jenny Nordberg, Harold Holzer and Dan Egan Win the 2015 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards". Nieman Reports. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  6. ↑ "George Lopez film about Phoenix school gets release date". Azcentral.com. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Arab Spring Break". Men's Journal. 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  8. ↑ Davis, Joshua. "McAfee's Last Stand". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  9. ↑ ""If We Run Out of Batteries, This War is Screwed."". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  10. ↑ Davis, Joshua. "The Crypto-Currency". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  11. ↑ "How Elon Musk Turned Tesla Into the Car Company of the Future". Wired. Vol. 18, no. 10. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  12. ↑ "Batteries Included". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  13. ↑ "*** UNDERDOG NATION *** THE BOOK ***". Underdognation.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  14. ↑ SUMO, 10 September 2009, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2021-04-27
  15. ↑ "Tickets $10 -mountainfilm fest- bouldering etc..." CascadeClimbers.com. 21 April 2004. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  16. ↑ "Extraordinary True Stories - Epic Magazine". Epicmagazine.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  17. ↑ "Building An Epic Brand Around Incredible, True Stories". Fast Company. 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  18. ↑ "Magazine Writing on the Web, for Film". The New York Times. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  19. ↑ Santos, Nix (17 March 2016). "Watch: Reach to Infinity and Beyond With J.J. Abrams on 'Moon Shot'". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  20. ↑ "Vox Media Acquires Award-Winning Film and TV Producer, Epic". Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  21. ↑ "The Uncertainty Principle by Joshua Davis, Kal Kini-Davis: 9780593660300 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  22. ↑ "2026 Rainbow Book List: Young Adult — a staff-created list from Herrick District Library". Cambridge Public Library. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  23. ↑ www.imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32915874/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm. Retrieved 2026-05-16. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ www.imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31259625/fullcredits/. Retrieved 2026-05-16. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ↑ Schneider, Michael (2026-04-07). "Nat Geo's 'Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller,' PBS' 'Frontline' Lead News & Documentary Emmy Awards 2026 Nominations (FULL LIST)". Variety. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  26. ↑ "Telluride fest to support environment fund". Pique Newsmagazine. 9 April 2004. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  27. ↑ "National Magazine Awards 2014 Finalists Announced". Magazine.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  28. ↑ "Spare Parts". Macmillan. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  29. ↑ "The J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards | Columbia Journalism School". journalism.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  30. ↑ Radical - IMDb, retrieved 2023-04-04
  31. ↑ Schneider, Michael (2026-04-07). "Nat Geo's 'Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller,' PBS' 'Frontline' Lead News & Documentary Emmy Awards 2026 Nominations (FULL LIST)". Variety. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  32. ↑ Davis, Joshua, West Coast (Drama), Erica Shaffer, Monty Black, Gil Ferrales, Nikolai Kinski, retrieved 2021-04-28
  33. ↑ Davis, Joshua (2006-06-10), The Sun Also Sets (Documentary, Short), Carlos Roig, retrieved 2021-04-28
  34. ↑ Moon Shot (Documentary), Mike Vergalla, Bad Robot, Epic Digital, Grain Media, 2016-03-15, retrieved 2021-04-28{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  35. ↑ "Epic Digital documents the making of IBM Project Debater: The first AI to debate a human". Vox Media. 2020-05-05. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  36. ↑ Breaking (2022) - IMDb, retrieved 2023-03-28
  37. ↑ Radical (2023) - IMDb, retrieved 2023-03-28
  38. ↑ The Big Cigar (TV Mini Series 2023– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2023-03-28
  39. ↑ www.imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32915874/fullcredits/. Retrieved 2026-05-16. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. ↑ www.imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31259625/fullcredits/. Retrieved 2026-05-16. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  41. ↑ Entrenched: The Best of Joshua Davis. Retrieved 2021-04-28 – via www.amazon.com.
  42. ↑ "La Vida Robot | Epic Magazine". epicmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  43. ↑ "Face Blind". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  44. ↑ "The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  45. ↑ Carr, David (2013-08-12). "Magazine Writing on the Web, for Film". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  46. ↑ Davis, Joshua (2016-03-07). "The Mercenary". Medium. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  47. ↑ Zax, David (2013-08-23). "Building An Epic Brand Around Incredible, True Stories". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2016-09-08. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  48. ↑ Magazine, Epic (2016-03-07). "Pipino: Gentleman Thief". Medium. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  49. ↑ "Deep Sea Cowboys | Epic Magazine". epicmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  50. ↑ "Arab Spring Break". Epic Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
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