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Sarah Smith (director)

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Sarah Smith
Smith speaking at Kings Place in 2023
BornJanuary 1966 (age 58)
England
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1991-present

Sarah Christine Smith (born January 1966)[1] is an English film director, broadcast producer, and screenwriter. She is the co-founder and former CEO of Locksmith Animation. She is writer and director of the animated feature films Arthur Christmas (2011) and Ron's Gone Wrong (2021). Smith began her career in radio before serving as a television producer for live action British comedy, including as writer for the Armistice news review shows. She later served various other assisting production roles in television, and as writer for the adult animated series I Am Not an Animal. She then joined Aardman Animations as creative director, going on to direct her first feature film Arthur Christmas. She left Aardman and set up Locksmith Animation to direct Ron's Gone Wrong.

Profile

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Smith studied at the University of Oxford.[2]

Smith met the comedy duo Lee and Herring and offered to produce a radio series. Their submission, Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World, was initially rejected for commission. However, Smith threatened to quit if the series was not accepted, an action Lee described as "heroic". The idea was resubmitted and accepted, and would eventually be recreated as Fist of Fun.[3]

She became producer for the Armistice review shows where she also served as writer. In 1997, Smith discussed her work on the UK general election special of Armistice. She explained there was an expansion of both news and comedy in media in years prior, and said "They've collided during the election so that all news programmes now apparently must have some comedy".[4]

She became producer for the radio series The League of Gentlemen after discovering the comedy cast at Edinburgh Fringe in 1996, then as producer for the first series of its transfer to television that aired in 1999. Smith is regarded as an important figure in the creation of the series; BBC2 initially offered "a tiny budget", she successfully advocated for a larger budget of around £230,000 (GBP) for each half-hour episode to achieve high production values and cover on-location shooting in Hadfield, Derbyshire.[5][6]

She became script consultant for the Brass Eye television special "Paedogeddon!", written and presented by Chris Morris. She was introduced to Morris to scrutinise his writing, and engaged in extended debates about comedy with respect to the topic matter of paedophilia, commenting "it was really important in that show that it did have a fundamental satirical intent".[7]

She became writer for the adult animated series I Am Not An Animal, marking her move towards the medium.[8]

Smith was approached by Aardman Animations with a job offer to head their feature department; she had contacted Aardman in prior years with an interest in working on film scripts.[9][10] Smith said she initially felt uncertain about accepting the role because she only had production experience overseeing live action comedy and drama. She joined the studio in 2006 expecting she would leave after six months,[11][12] but stayed on determining she was there at an important time for picking up new projects, saying "[there was] an opportunity to take a whole fresh path and look at what they wanted to do as a company".[10]

As creative director she was co-executive producer for the 2012 film The Pirates! Band of Misfits, where she secured rights to adapt it from the books it was based on. Smith would go on to direct her first feature film, Arthur Christmas, which was released in 2011.[6][13][14]

In 2012, Smith described her satisfaction with the Christmas lights display in Piccadilly Circus that promoted the film in the year prior, saying that it affirmed to her that it reached the general public. She also expressed disappointment over the film not being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature when a film such as Puss in Boots did that year, remarking, "you've got to be kidding me".[15]

Christmas lights display in Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, promoting Arthur Christmas in 2011.

Smith co-founded the animation studio Locksmith in 2014 with Aardman executive Julie Lockhart, and with the financial backing of Elisabeth Murdoch.[16][17] She directed the studio's first film, Ron's Gone Wrong, which was released in 2021.[18] Smith left Locksmith in June 2021 and was replaced by Natalie Fischer as CEO.[19]

Filmography

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As director:

References

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  1. ^ "Sarah Christine Smith personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Today's TV: Starfile Armando Iannucci". The Journal. 26 July 2008. p. 65. ProQuest 350874977. He made his way to Oxford University [and] met fellow enthusiasts Andrew Glover, Sarah Smith and David Schneider.
  3. ^ Barnett, Laura (5 August 2014). "Stewart Lee and Richard Herring: how we made Fist of Fun". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. ^ Rampton, James (28 April 1997). "Arts: The comics' manifesto". The Independent. p. 16. ProQuest 312586679.
  5. ^ Rosenthal, Daniel (2 March 2001). "What's all this shouting?". The Times. p. 14. Gale A71024446.
  6. ^ a b Gallagher, Brian (22 November 2011). "Sarah Smith Talks Arthur Christmas". MovieWeb.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  7. ^ Randall, Lucian (2010). Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris. Simon & Schuster. p. 239. ISBN 9781847371386.
  8. ^ Fleming, Ryan (4 February 2022). "'Ron's Gone Wrong' Writer-Director Sarah Smith Signed By Verve". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  9. ^ Edward, Douglas (22 October 2021). "Animation Spotlight: Ron's Gone Wrong Director Sarah Smith on Helping to Create a UK Animation Scene". Below the Line. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Interview". thedivareview. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  11. ^ Desowitz, Bill (14 October 2011). "First Look: Director Sarah Smith Talks Aardman's Arthur Christmas: Exclusive Photos". IndieWire. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  12. ^ Weinkauf, Greogory (22 November 2011). "Director Sarah Smith Delivers a Very Merry Arthur Christmas". HuffPost. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  13. ^ Weintraub, Steve (14 October 2011). "7 Things to Know About Aardman's ARTHUR CHRISTMAS; Plus an Interview with Director Sarah Smith". Collider. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  14. ^ "Director Sarah Smith Delivers a Very Merry Arthur Christmas". Huffingtonpost. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  15. ^ Brew, Simon (21 November 2012). "Sarah Smith interview: Arthur Christmas, animation and America". Den of Geek. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  16. ^ Amidi, Amid (20 September 2017). "UK's Locksmith Animation Announces Production Agreement with 20th Century Fox". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  17. ^ "Paramount and Locksmith Animation Enter Exclusive Multi-Pic Deal". Animation Magazine. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  18. ^ Ritman, Alex (12 October 2017). "Fox, Locksmith Animation Unveil 'Ron's Gone Wrong'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  19. ^ "Sarah Smith Steps Down at Locksmith Animation as Natalie Fischer Named CEO". Animation World Network. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
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