| Chris Smith | |
| Alma Mater: | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee |
| Occupation: | Filmmaker |
Chris Smith (born 1970) is an American filmmaker. He directed American Movie,[1] which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.[2]
Smith completed his first film, American Job, while attending the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee's Graduate Film Program. He was nominated for a "Someone to Watch Award" from the Independent Spirit Awards.[3] Smith met Mark Borchardt, the subject of American Movie, while editing American Job, and began filming a documentary about the making of Borchardt's psychological thriller Coven. Both films played at the Sundance Film Festival,[4] and American Movie was bought by Sony Pictures for $1 million.[5]
His resume includes the Emmy-nominated Jim & Andy (2017), about the making of the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon.[6]
Smith wrote and directed the documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019), about the Fyre Festival fraud.[7]
He also made a documentary about director Robert Downey Sr.,[8] co-directing together with Kevin Ford. The project, simply titled "Sr.",[9] [10] was produced by Team Downey, Robert Downey Jr.'s production company.
| Year | Film | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | American Job | Narrative feature | |
| 1999 | American Movie | Sundance Film Festival winner | |
| 2001 | Home Movie[11] | ||
| 2003 | The Yes Men | ||
| 2007 | The Pool | Narrative feature | |
| 2009 | Collapse | ||
| 2017 | Primetime Emmy Award nomination[12] | ||
| 2019 | Fyre | Primetime Emmy Award nominations[13] | |
| 2019 | The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann | 8-part Netflix docuseries | |
| 2020 | Tiger King | 7-part Netflix docuseries | |
| 2021 | 100 Foot Wave | 6-part HBO docuseriesWinner, 2023 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | |
| 2022 | 4-part Netflix docuseries | ||
| 2022 | "Sr." | ||
| 2023 | Wham! | ||
| 2024 | DEVO |