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Born
in New Orleans, Smith graduated from Xavier University
of Louisiana in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Mass Communications. There, he was a four-year letterman
on the University’s “powerhouse” basketball
team. During his senior year he interned at a local
cable station as a videographer. Upon graduation he
went on to work at WWL-TV, a local CBS affiliate in
New Orleans, where he worked as one of eight news photographers
on the station’s well-respected news team.
In
1989 Smith was accepted into the prestigious AFI (American
Film Institute) in Los Angeles, where he earned a Master
of Fine Arts degree. There he received AFI’s 1991
distinguished Rémy Martin Student Scholarship
Award. This marked the first time in its six-year inception,
that the award was given to a cinematography fellow,
and the first time the award went to a first year student.
Smith
began his film career as a camera assistant working
for such well-known filmmakers as Oliver Stone and Bob
Richardson, ASC. He worked with the pair on “JFK,”
“Heaven and Earth,” “Natural Born
Killers,” and “Nixon.” He went on
to work with Rob Reiner on a “Few Good Men,"
on Robert Townsend’s comedy, “Meteor Man,”
and “Blankman,” starring Daman Wayans. His
most recent project was “The Trigger Effect,”
a film directed by David Koeppe, who also wrote “Jurassic
Park.”
As
a cinematographer, Smith has worked on a variety of
projects including the independent film, “Statistically
Speaking,” directed by Nandi Bowe, which was showcased
on Showtime starring Alfre Woodard and Gary Marshall.
Another project, “Psalms From The Underground,”
a short film directed by Eriq LaSalle, was one of the
seven finalists screened by the Academy for Oscar consideration
in the live action short category. Smith has recently
completed principle photography on two feature films;
“Frontline,” a feature length film directed
by Quinton Peeples, and “Sex Monster,” a
film starring Mariel Hemingway. The films were funded
by Kingman Films and Molly-B Productions LLC, respectively.
During
the fall of 1999 Smith worked as the A-Cam Operator
on “Fallen,” a film produced by Turner Pictures,
which starred Denzel Washington. That same year he completed
principal photography on “Harlem Aria,”
a film starring Daman Wayans and Gabriel Cassuis, which
was shot entirely on location in New York. Smith soon
found himself working again with Oliver Stone on “Any
Given Sunday,” in which he worked as an Additional
Director of Photography. He has been a part of the Oliver
Stone Camera dept. since interning on “JFK.”
Smith
has also lensed “The Wash” for Lyons Gate
and “Love & A Bullet” for Screen Gems,
a division of Sony Pictures. His most recent project
is “Hair Show” starring Monique, and “Virginia” which stars Paige Hurd, and Godfrey. Hair Show was recently released on DVD. “Virginia ” was produced by “Topline Urbanworks”. The film is slated to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Currently,
Smith is focusing himself on a career in Hollywood as
a Director of Photography. His goal is to shoot films
that inspire and entertain.
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