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 (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

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 urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscon ...

's Graduate Film Program. He was nominated for a " Someone to Watch Award" from the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...

. Smith met Mark Borchardt, the subject of ''American Movie'', while editing ''American Job'', and began filming a documentary about the making of Borchardt's psychological thriller '' Coven''. Both films played at the Sundance Film Festival, and ''American Movie'' was bought by Sony Pictures for $1 million.

Later works

His resume also included 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. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

biopic '' Man on the Moon''. Smith wrote and directed the documentary '' Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened'' (2019), about the Fyre Festival fraud. He also made a documentary about director

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

, co-directing together with Kevin Ford. The project, simply titled '' "Sr."'',Top Gun: Maverick Named Best Movie of 2022 by National Board of Review - The Hollywood Reporter
/ref> was produced by Team Downey, Robert Downey Jr.'s production company.

Filmography

References

External links

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