Biography
Matt Smiley was born in Montreal, Quebec. Commencing his career as an actor, he garnered critical success with Kamataki (2005), a film directed by Claude Gagnon. After studying theater in France under acting coach Jack Waltzer (John Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Sigourney Weaver), he moved to Los Angeles to concentrate on Book and Film Development.
From 2007 to 2009, Smiley worked on LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) CEO Bernard Arnault's biography as a writing collaborator and editor with Per-Henrik Mansson. He worked in film development for several years at 26DB Productions with French megastar Dany Boon ("Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis"), before branching out to produce "Rituals," an Ashton Kutcher-executive produced web-series created by Mean Magazine founder Kashy Khaledi that streams on the Katalyst ThrashLab YouTube Channel.
Smiley subsequently directed Highway of Tears (2015), a documentary film based on the missing women along Highway 16 in northern British Columbia. Narrated by TV Star Nathan Fillion ("Castle") and with an original score composed and produced by Grammy-winners Danny Keyz and Chin Injeti, the film premiered in March 2014 at the TIFF Human Rights Watch Film Festival and won the Malibu Film Festival in Fall 2014.
The film was also recently hosted by Marc Garneau at the Canadian Parliament, garnering national acclaim. Shedding light on the government's treatment of aboriginal communities and the media's disregard for their plight, "Highway of Tears" began screening to the general public in early 2015 and will continue through the Fall.
Smiley produced "Metropolis," a music video directed by Mr. Brainwash ("Exit Through the Gift Shop") for David Guetta and Nicky Romero. The video was released on October 19, 2012, and has reached over 12.5 million views on YouTube.
In Spring 2013, Smiley partook in an art exhibition with Academy Award-nominated actor James Franco and Jeff Wack. He also was a part of the Hirsch Norton Smiley art show trio that same year with award-winning actor Emile Hirsch and music-video director Ace Norton. He is producing original art pieces for shows in Los Angeles, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal in 2015 and 2016.
Smiley recently starred in "Interference", a European feature film. He also directed a music video for rock icon Marilyn Manson's newest album, "The Pale Emperor." He's set to direct two high-profile documentaries, a television pilot, and a feature film.
