BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.— Smuggler has nabbed director Chris Smith. The bicoastal production company will represent Smith for spotwork worldwide, providing him with U.K. and European representation via its association with Stink, London. Smith comes to Smuggler from Independent Media, Santa Monica.
Smith reported that he began looking at other production companies about six months ago. "It wasn’t to take anything away from Independent Media," he said. "I had a really good four-and-a-half years there, and admittedly wouldn’t have a commercials career if it wasn’t for Susanne [Preissler, executive producer of Independent Media]. I just really felt like I needed a change of pace. It seems really easy to get comfortable and set in your ways. Sometimes it is nice to shake things up for yourself."
The director ultimately decided to sign with Smuggler because "they’ve been doing some of the most inspiring work the past year. Creatively, it just seemed like a really good place to be."
Smuggler executive producer Brian Carmody has long had his eye on Smith. "When he started out, I tried to get him at [now defunct] Satellite, where I used to work," Carmody shared. "I’d seen [Smith’s documentary] American Movie, and I just dug his work. But he was already with Independent Media, so I left it alone."
Movie Exploits
A native of Milwaukee, Smith first made a name for himself in the indie film world with American Movie, which he co-directed with Sarah Price. The documentary chronicles filmmaker Mark Borchardt’s journey as he tries to make a horror flick called Coven, and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999.
Smith followed up that effort with another documentary, Home Movie, in ’01. Home Movie finds Smith visiting five people with unusual homes—one of his subjects is an actress with a tree house getaway in Hawaii. Smith’s next film was ’03’s The Yes Men, a documentary he co-directed with Dan Ollman and the aforementioned Price that followed anti-corporate activists as they pulled pranks.
As for his spotwork, Smith has helmed commercials for clients including Lee Jeans, TiVo, Volkswagen, Vodafone, Renault and Nokia, and he just recently wrapped a Snapple campaign out of Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York—one of his last jobs through Independent Media.
Judging by his commercial credits, the director has avoided being pigeonholed by advertising agencies, winning assignments to direct everything from real people to comedic fare. "I feel like I’ve been lucky because I’ve had a few creative teams take a chance on me and give me work—like the creatives from Fallon [Minneapolis] behind Buddy Lee," Smith said. "I was really happy that they thought of me for that job because I probably wasn’t the first person that would pop into your head for a job like that."
Smith is referring to the ’03 "Buddy Lee: Man of Action" campaign he directed for Fallon. Three spots—"Hall of Mirrors," "The Chase" and "Man of Action"—feature Buddy Lee and a cop going undercover to make the streets safe.
Through his new association with Smuggler, Smith said he hopes to continue to get varied assignments, noting, "I’m always trying to look for work that is different from what I’ve been doing."
