Jack Thomas Smith

Jack Thomas Smith (born March 10, 1969) is an American producer, writer and director of feature films and documentary television series. His feature horror films include Disorder and Infliction. Smith is a member of the Horror Writers Association.

Early life Jack Thomas Smith was born on March 10, 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has a brother, Michael A. Smith. Their family lived in Philadelphia until he was eight, when his family relocated to a quiet island community in Michigan. He began to develop an interest in storytelling and horror at the age of nine when he read the Stephen King novel The Shining. As a teenager, he moved to Sparta, New Jersey.

Smith initially desired to be a writer, and completed a 300-page horror novel by the time he was eleven, though it was never published. While in his teens, Smith's father bought him a Super 8 film camera, with which Smith, Michael, and their friends shot horror and comedy shorts in the neighborhood. From that point, his interests shifted to filmmaking.

Career While living in Sparta, Smith worked at a video store, where he discovered the films of George A. Romero, Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and Tobe Hooper, who would influence his work.

Smith subsequently met John A. Russo, the writer of one of Smith's favorite films, the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. Smith raised the financing for Russo's script for the 1996 horror film Santa Claws, which is about a serial murderer dressed as Santa Claus. The film was distributed by EI Independent. The film was shot in 61 days in the Poconos, in Blairstown, New Jersey (where the 1980 film Friday the 13th was filmed ) and in the woods near Millbrook Village, New Jersey, in a 300-year-old abandoned house owned by the National Park Service. Smith, who had full creative control on it, learned much about filmmaking during the course of its production. The film opened as a limited theatrical release in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2014. It was subsequently released on DVD, and video on demand on July 1, 2014, by Virgil Films & Entertainment. It was released internationally in 2018 by Monarch Films. It won Best Story in a Feature Film at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival and Best Screenplay at the Macabre Faire Film Festival. and his fiancée Mandy Del Rio.

Personal life As of September 2021, Smith is engaged to Mandy Del Rio, who has collaborated with him on his projects. She also hosts The Indie Lounge on TV34 in Montclair, New Jersey. Smith has a daughter named Megan Cruz, who works with him on his projects.