Chris Smith

Chris Smith (born 1970) is an American filmmaker. He directed American Movie, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

Smith has since directed several high-profile documentary projects for Netflix including the films, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (2017), Fyre (2019), "Sr." (2022), and Wham! (2023); alongside the mini-series, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann (2019), Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. (2022), Biggest Heist Ever (2024) and Mr. McMahon (2024). Smith was an executive producer on Tiger King which was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series in 2020.

Smith's HBO documentary television series, 100 Foot Wave (2021–present), has been nominated for several awards, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program in 2023.

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. 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, and American Movie was bought by Sony Pictures for $1 million.

Later works His resume includes the Emmy-nominated Jim & Andy (2017), about the making of the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon.

Smith wrote and directed the documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019), about the Fyre Festival fraud.

He also made a documentary about director Robert Downey Sr., co-directing together with Kevin Ford. The project, simply titled "Sr.", was produced by Team Downey, Robert Downey Jr.'s production company.

In 2024, Smith also directed a six-part docusereies about the Founder of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), Vince McMahon, titled Mr. McMahon.

Filmography Winner, 2023 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program 2026 Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult HBO documentary