Independent film and commercial content studio More Media has added popular influencer Chaz Smith to its directorial roster. This marks the first official commercial representation for Smith who’s known for a deep understanding of how to create entertaining content that taps into the heartbeat of Gen Z culture.
“Great directors know how to make a professional, highly produced, clean final product,” commented Smith, “while the most popular content creators have a sense of humor that can connect with Gen Z in ways that older generations struggle to. Because I’m in the middle of both of these worlds, I believe I’m able to bring a fresh breath of creativity that merges professionalism with relevant, clean, and unique humor.”
Since his breakout on the Vine app in 2013, Smith has built a devoted YouTube and social media following with productions that are playful, humorous and have an infectious momentum. Presently, Smith has over three million followers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and as proof of his strong and steady foothold in this arena, continues to grow tens of thousands new followers monthly. This year, Smith was among the first elite group of 132 content creators chosen from around the world to be selected for the #YouTubeBlackVoices Creator Class of 2021.
The natural born comedian started out by making videos of his own at a young age before studying film theory at the University of Philadelphia, where he explained, “I learned how important intentionality is as a creative tool. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then that means every single aspect of a shot can either aid or harm the telling of a story as a whole.”
One of Smith’s bigger advertising projects is the music video for “YOU NEED SOME SPICE,” presented by Old Spice, which he wrote, storyboarded, co-directed, and starred in. Initially Smith collaborated with Old Spice on several smaller brand campaigns on Instagram, then took on larger projects over time. Smith has also been working on personal projects under the brand CS3CREATIVE, shooting guerrilla-style music visuals with handheld Sony cameras.
Smith was recently featured by I Am Second, a non-profit, faith-based multimedia movement that shares people’s life stories. Over the course of this year, Smith will also be releasing a YouTube series that mixes between narrative cartoons and traditional story time videos that deal in themes close to Chaz’s heart.
Stephen Buchanan, More Media executive producer and owner, said, “You cannot watch any of Chaz’s content without it making you happy.”
EP Blaize Saunders also commented, “Content trends rise and fall at a rapid pace, and creators like Chaz are the wave of young talent that can keep up with the sprint.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More