By Christine Champagne
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."
Movie Armorer’s Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction Upheld In Fatal “Rust” Shooting
A New Mexico judge on Monday upheld an involuntary manslaughter conviction against a movie armorer in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film "Rust."
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed asked a court to dismiss her conviction or convene a new trial, alleging that prosecutors failed to share evidence that could have cleared her.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in her written order noted that the armorer's attorneys did not establish that there was a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different had the evidence been available to Gutierrez-Reed.
The judge also rejected a request from Gutierrez-Reed that she be released from custody, saying it was moot because the request for a new trial was denied.
Marlow Sommer halted and ended Baldwin's trial in July based on misconduct of police and prosecutors and their withholding evidence from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set outside Santa Fe.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for "Rust," was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
A jury convicted Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter in March in a trial overseen by Marlowe Sommer, who later sentenced her to the maximum 18-month penalty. Gutierrez-Reed has an appeal of the conviction pending in a higher court. Jurors acquitted her of allegations she tampered with evidence in the "Rust" investigation.
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of "Rust" and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Evidence that Gutierrez-Reed's... Read More