Chris Smith (born 1970) is an American filmmaker. He directed '' American Movie'', which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Smith has since directed several high-profile documentary projects for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

including the films, '' Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond'' (2017), '' Fyre'' (2019), '' "Sr."'' (2022), and ''

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

'' (2023); alongside the mini-series, '' The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann'' (2019), '' Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.'' (2022), ''Biggest Heist Ever'' (2024) and '' Mr. McMahon'' (2024). Smith was an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

on ''

Tiger King ''Tiger King'' (subtitled in marketing as ''Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness'' for its first season, ''Tiger King 2'' for its second season and ''Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story'' for its third season) is an American true crime document ...

'' which was nominated for

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series is handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony. The award was established in 2013 as the awards restructured previous categories for Outstanding Nonfictio ...

in 2020. Smith's

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

documentary television series, ''

100 Foot Wave ''100 Foot Wave'' is an American documentary television series directed by Chris Smith, revolving around big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara as he traveled to Nazaré, Portugal with the goal of conquering a 100-foot wave. It premiered on HBO on J ...

'' (2021–present), has been nominated for several awards, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program in 2023.

Career

Smith completed his first film, '' American Job'', while attending the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

's Graduate Film Program. He was nominated for a "

Someone to Watch Award The Someone to Watch Award is an emerging filmmaker award presented by Film Independent Spirit Awards that recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. History The award includes a $25,000 un ...

" from the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

. Smith met

Mark Borchardt Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film '' American Movie'', which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short ''Coven'' (1997 ...

, the subject of ''American Movie'', while editing ''American Job'', and began filming a documentary about the making of Borchardt's psychological thriller ''

Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...

''. Both films played at the Sundance Film Festival, and ''American Movie'' was bought by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

for $1 million.

Later works

His resume includes the Emmy-nominated '' Jim & Andy'' (2017), about the making of the 1999

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

'' Man on the Moon''. Smith wrote and directed the documentary '' Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened'' (2019), about the

Fyre Festival Fyre Festival was a luxury music festival organized by American businessman Billy McFarland and American rapper Ja Rule. It was originally created to promote the company's Fyre app for booking music talent. The festival was scheduled to take pl ...

fraud. He also made a documentary about director

Robert Downey Sr. Robert John Downey Sr. ( Elias Jr.; June 24, 1936 – July 7, 2021) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He was known for writing and directing the underground film '' Putney Swope'' (1969), a satire on the New York Madison Ave ...

, co-directing together with Kevin Ford. The project, simply titled '' "Sr."'', was produced by Team Downey,

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965), also known as RDJ, is an American actor. One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, his films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. In 2008, Downey was named by ''Time ...

's production company. In 2024, Smith also directed a six-part docusereies about the Founder of the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(World Wrestling Entertainment),

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

, titled '' Mr. McMahon''.

Filmography

References

External links

Libraryfilms.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris 1970 births Living people American documentary film directors Filmmakers from Milwaukee Primetime Emmy Award winners University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Place of birth missing (living people)