EXCLUSIVE: Chris Smith, the four-time Emmy nominee who directed and exec produced Netflix’s true-crime docuseries Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives., has signed with Cinetic Media for management, bringing his Library Films production shingle with him.
Smith’s series Bad Vegan recently registered as a #1 hit on Netflix. It tells the stranger-than-fiction story of Sarma Melngailis, a celebrated vegan restaurateur who found her life veering off the rails, after marrying a mysterious man who claimed he could make her dog immortal.
Smith is known for his ability to craft culturally relevant narratives, documentaries and series that explore the essence of human behavior, often in humorous ways. He also recently directed and produced Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened and HBO’s 100 Foot Wave, and served as an exec producer on Netflix’s smash, Tiger King.
Smith’s first film, American Job, garnered him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, with his second film, American Movie, landing the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, and securing release via Sony Pictures Classics. He has long pioneered new forms of storytelling, including with Home Movie, an early exercise in branded storytelling, and with his award-winning Hindi film, The Pool. Smith produces and directs all of his projects across film and television through Library Films.
“Chris Smith is the filmmaker’s filmmaker – without a doubt, one of the best living visual story tellers,” said Cinetic Media principal, John Sloss. “His humanistic approach to character and story makes any subject he turns his attention to instantly relatable and commercial. It goes without saying that we are blessed to be in business with him.”
Cinetic Media is a multi-disciplinary company empowering world-class storytellers with a full suite of services, including talent management, financing, domestic and international content sales, corporate advisory, and marketing. It represents an exceptional roster of writers, directors and producers, including Richard Linklater, David Gordon Green, Todd Haynes, Killer Films, World of Wonder, Matthew Heineman, Yance Ford, Lana Wilson and Janus Metz.
Smith continues to be represented by Jerry Dasti and Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes LawCo.