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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]

Career

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]

Later works

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.

Filmography

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 Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond 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 docuseries

Winner, 2023 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program[13]

2022 Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. 4-part Netflix docuseries
2022 "Sr."
2023 Wham!
2024 DEVO

References

External links

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