Mickey Smith

In the last two years Mickey has directed six online films for Asics in which he also composed and performed the music on each. In addition to that, he has directed five promos for Mercury nominated musician Ben Howard and made his critically acclaimed short film Dark Side of the Lens. After the success of Dark Side, Mickey was included in the 2012 Saatchi and Saatchi Young Directors Showcase, won the best new director award at Kinsale Sharks and picked up the best sports film award at the Vimeo awards. In addition to that he also found the time to shoot the second unit footage on Rupert Saunders’ Snow White and the Huntsman.

Back history:

Mickey Smith is a lad that has lived a life a little less ordinary. As a young boy he grew up amongst a family of fisherman and mariners, so the ocean and the elements were inevitably where his eye was drawn. A natural observer, his Mum gave him a disposable camera at the age of nine. Cameras became a natural means of communication and documentation for Mickey, along with the music he was brought up around. This eventually translated into his work as a photographer and film maker.

At 18-years-old his affinity with the ocean and well honed eye for subtle moments of beauty soon led to a staff photographers post at the UK’s leading surf media house, Orca Publications.

After travelling solidly for four years, producing consistently groundbreaking photographic and cinematic work amongst some of the worlds heaviest waves, Mickey was eventually hired as a senior photographer by Australia’s biggest surf publication house, Morrison Media. This led to two years based down in Australia, travelling the world with top professional surfers for articles and advertising campaigns, and working with the worlds biggest surfing publications, as well as for companies such as Rip Curl, Quiksilver, Analog and Billabong.

He was also hired to work on a television series for the Xtreme channel in Australia and the UK, and ended up shooting, directing, producing, soundtracking and editing features for the channel focusing on various characters lives within extreme sports for two different programmes – Chilli factor and Gen Ex.

Due to his love for the Irish coast and many seasons of isolated exploration there at sea over the years, the wandering Cornish man eventually settled on Irelands west coast in 2007. It was here amongst the freezing elements and brutal winters that his work began to find a real focus and direction, both as a cinematographer and photographer.

In 2010, Mickeys short film Dark Side of the Lens was quietly released on the internet, to wide critical acclaim, winning multiple awards and drawing heavy attention to his work from all corners of the globe.

As a result he has set up a small creative collective under the banner ‘The Astray’. He is still a regular contributor to the worlds top surfing magazines due to his pioneering work amongst the heavy waves of the Irish winter, but he continues to find a growing amount of diverse work offered to him on films, television ad campaigns and music videos. 

Awards:

Winner of the Kinsale Sharks International Young Directors Award, 2012.Featured in the Saatchi & Saatchis Young Directors Showcase, 2012.Winner of Best Sports film, Vimeo Awards 2012.Honourable Mention - Best Doc Short Film Award - Cleveland 2012.Best Cinematography - Rhode Island Film Festival 2011.Best Cinematography - 5 Point Film Festival.Best Short Film - New York Surf Film Festival.

Relentless Short Stories Winner.

Best Short Film Canadian Surf Film Festival.

Best Short Film - Sheffield Adventure Film Festival