Michael Acton Smith

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 3 September 1974) is the co-CEO and co-founder of Calm, a meditation space company. He is also the founder of Firebox.com, and founder and chairman of children's entertainment company Mind Candy, which created the video game

Moshi Monsters ''Moshi Monsters'' is a British children's web browser massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) aimed at children aged 6–12, with over 80 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide. Users could choose from one of si ...

. He has been described by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' as "a rock star version of

Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel '' Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprieto ...

" and by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as "a polite version of

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

Education

Acton Smith attended

Sir William Borlase's Grammar School Sir William Borlase's Grammar School (commonly shortened to Borlase or SWBGS) is a selective state grammar school accepting girls and boys aged 11–18 located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated on West Street, close to the town ...

Marlow, Buckinghamshire Marlow ( ), historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow, is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...

. In 1996, he graduated from

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

with a degree in geography.

Career

Acton Smith joined the human resources department at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

after graduating in 1996. In 1998, he co-founded online gadget and gift retailer Firebox.com with Tom Boardman. In 2004, Firebox was listed on ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'Fast Track 100' list of the fastest growing, privately owned business in the UK. In 2004, Acton Smith secured $10M backing and launched Mind Candy. The company launched alternate reality game

Perplex City Perplex City (wordplay on the term "perplexity") was an alternate reality game (ARG) created by Mind Candy, a London-based developer in 2005. Adrian Hon was the producer, designer and director of the game's first and only completed season, in whi ...

, a global treasure hunt with £100,000 buried somewhere in the world that played out across various media including websites, text messages, magazines, live events, skywriting and multiple helicopters. The game was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2006. After three years (and $9M spent) Perplex City was placed on indefinite hold. In 2007 Acton Smith launched online world

. In 2013, it had over 90 million users around the world. The online world shut down in 2019. It has expanded offline into selling a range of products including toys, a kids magazine in the UK, a DS video game, a top 5 music album which has gone gold in the UK, books, membership cards, and trading cards. In December 2013, Moshi Monsters teamed with Universal to release a full-length feature movie. In late 2012 Acton Smith co-founded Calm.com, along with Alex Tew. In 2013 the company announced a $450,000 funding round from a group of Angel investors. By 2015, Calm had reached 2 million downloads worldwide and, after winning a British competition, launched the world's first "slow TV Ad". That same year, Acton Smith released a book with

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

called ''Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World''. It was published in 12 countries. In July 2017, the release of '' Baa Baa Land'', an eight-hour

slow cinema Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterised by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.Steven RoseTwo Years At Sea: little happens, nothing is explained ''The Guar ...

film, was announced with Acton Smith as Executive Producer. Acton Smith is also the founder of Ping Pong Fight Club, Silicon Drinkabout, and the Berwickstock Festival. He was awarded a BAFTA in 2013 for Moshi Monsters and was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2014

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

for services to the creative industries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Michael Acton English businesspeople Living people Alumni of the University of Birmingham British online retailer founders English people of American descent 1974 births People from Marlow, Buckinghamshire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) Alternate reality games Goldman Sachs people