Author. Photographer. Filmmaker. Host.


Books

 

My latest book, “Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War” is currently in development as a major motion picture.

 

Journalism

 

I found my way into journalism because I was inspired by the likes of Ernie Pyle and Anthony Bourdain. Like them, I had a passion for telling stories on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with the people I was writing about. I often found myself in dangerous situations in pursuit of those stories, becoming an accidental conflict reporter in the process.

Throughout my journalism career, I have gone on assignment to report in austere locations around the world, including Standing Rock, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine during the Russian invasion.

My stories have been published in a variety of publications, both digital and print, with a focus on narrative long-form human interest stories. These days, I focus on writing books while keeping my camera nearby—just in case!

A few of my stories:

The Legend of Chief Shannon Kent

Coffee or Die Magazine | May 13, 2019

The Valley Boys

How A Lone Special Forces Team is Fighting ISIS in the Remote Mountains of Afghanistan

Coffee or Die Magazine | July 2018

The True Story of How Standing Rock Fell

Medium | March 4, 2017

The True Story of How the Army Made the First Female Infantrymen

Task & Purpose | May 30, 2017

Eagle Pass

The Christmas One Border Patrol Agent Will Never Forget

Coffee or Die Magazine | December 2018

Surviving Pastranaland

A Day in the Life of America’s Premiere Daredevil

Coffee or Die Magazine | July 2018

The Longest War

8 Years After My Last Deployment, I Returned to Afghanistan as a Reporter. Here’s What I Found

Task & Purpose | December 20, 2017

'I Have Already Killed Many Taliban'

Meet an Afghan Commando Who's Spent 12 Years Fighting

Business Insider | November 6, 2017

With the Taliban On the Offensive, the Future of Afghanistan May Depend On This Homegrown Commando Force

Task & Purpose | January 29, 2018

Exclusive: The 75th Ranger Regiment Is No Longer an All-Male Unit

Task & Purpose | January 18, 2017

 

Photography

 

Whether capturing the chaos of soldiers in a gunfight or relaying the emotion in a refugee’s eyes, I try to tell a story every time I bring the camera to my eye.

My photos have been published in various print and digital publications, from Coffee or Die Magazine to The New York Times.

A few of my photographs:

 

Film & Television

 

When I first started out in the world of film and television, I was fortunate to find and work with incredible, talented people resulting in an award-winning short narrative film and an award-winning feature-length documentary. 

Those experiences hooked me, and I’ve since gone on to co-host a non-scripted series on the History Channel, be involved in multiple documentaries, and produce a web series with tens of millions of views based on my journalism assignments around the world.

I’ve worked both behind and in front of the camera. I even delved into screenwriting, writing my first animated short, which was released in December 2018.

Coffee or Die's Marty Skovlund Jr. traveled to his hometown of Huron, South Dakota for the Red Wilk Construction Tuff Hedeman Bull Bash, considered one of the most patriotic of its kind.
Coffee or Die's Marty Skovlund Jr. traveled to the hallowed beaches and countryside of Normandy, France for the 74th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Hundreds of U.S. and Allied paratroopers jump onto the farm fields just outside of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the same drop zone that was used on June 6, 1944.
Coffee or Die's Marty Skovlund Jr. went to the 2019 Best Ranger Competition in Fort Benning from April 12 to 14. For those three days, he watched 54 two-man teams battle for the coveted title of Best Ranger.
Embedded with Special Forces in Afghanistan Watch Part 2 here: https://youtu.be/G3rF7weYttU The mission was to check out a vehicle that had been abandoned on a target range frequently used by Americans and ensure that it wasn't left there for nefarious reasons.
We are very proud to present the exclusive release of the film Prisoner of War, produced by Blackside Productions. Questioned by a sadistic interrogator, an American detainee is initially able to resist a brutal line of questioning - but how much can he take?
"You sleep in weird places." Check out more awesome BuzzFeedYellow videos! http://bit.ly/YTbuzzfeedyellow MUSIC Be Home Real Soon Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. SPECIAL THANK YOU TO Jarred Taylor of Article 15 Clothing https://www.facebook.com/ARTICLE15CLOTHING Marty Skovlund of BlackSide Concepts https://www.facebook.com/BlacksideConcepts Boone Cutler of "Tipping Point with Boone Cutler" https://www.facebook.com/TippingPointWithBooneCutler GET MORE BUZZFEED: www.buzzfeed.com www.buzzfeed.com/video www.youtube.com/buzzfeedvideo www.youtube.com/buzzfeedyellow www.youtube.com/buzzfeedblue www.youtube.com/buzzfeedviolet www.youtube.com/buzzfeed BUZZFEED YELLOW Tasty short, fun, inspiring, funny, interesting videos from BuzzFeed.
Nomadic Veterans is a documentary that some friends and I made back in 2014-2015 about a trip that Leo Jenkins and I took to raise awareness for veteran homelessness. Over the course of three weeks, Leo and I hopped trains, hitch hiked, walked, flew, and floated from Denver to the Italian/Slovenian border.
 

Need to get in touch?

 

I’m always happy to come on a podcast, answer questions about my work, or discuss possible collaborations. And, of course, if you have a tip on a story I may be interested in covering, don’t hesitate to send me a brief description of what you have in mind.