Martin Smith
Director / Writer
Film, TV & Theatre
Film, TV & Theatre
Martin is a BAFTA winning filmmaker whose short TRACKS - a naturalistic portrayal of children's cruelty in a powerful, raw and affecting film - won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Short Film.
Next up he has been lead director on GRANITE HARBOUR for LA Productions and BBC1. He recently directed GRANTCHESTER for Kudos, Masterpiece PBS and ITV. He also directed 2nd unit on Jack Thorne's drama BEST INTERESTS with AC Chapter One and Fifth Season for BBC1. The project stars Sharon Horgan, Michael Sheen, Alison Oliver and Niamh Moriarty. He’s currently directing 2nd unit on LOCKERBIE with World Productions for the BBC and Netflix.
Prior to this Martin directed HOLBY CITY for BBC1 and BBC Studios, which was Nominated Best Continuing Drama at the BAFTA TV Awards, and Nominated Best Continuing Drama at the Broadcast Awards. ARMCHAIR DETECTIVES, the crime drama hybrid Martin directed for Tiger Aspect and BBC1, won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Entertainment.
Martin was selected for BBC Writersroom Scottish Voices 2022. He is developing feature projects SHOWS with Creative Scotland and DigiCult, and TARANTULA with First Features and 104 Films, plus a number of original drama series.
His short SEAGULLS had its World Premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film. The film has screened at over 50 film festivals to date, picking up Best Short Film wins and nominations in over 20 International Competitions.
His documentary JIMMY, qualified for The Academy Award® Best Short Documentary nomination, was nominated for the BAFTA New Talent Award, and won the Franklyn Marshall Award for Short Film at the CurtDoc International Documentary Festival, Spain.
LIAR was his third commissioned short, made for Collabor8te. The film won the BAFTA New Talent Award for Best Writing.
Martin was selected by the Toronto International Film Festival to participate in their Talent Lab where he was mentored by Danny Boyle and John Collee. 2021 saw Martin selected for the prestigious initiative BBC Elevate.
In Development
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
TARANTULA | Screen Scotland / First Features / 104 Films / BFI Network | Feature in development |
SHOWS | Creative Scotland/Screen Scotland/DigiCult | Feature in development |
NUMBERS | Original Series |
Television
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
LOCKERBIE 2024 | BBC / Netflix / World Productions | As 2nd Unit Director. |
GRANITE HARBOUR 2 2023 | LA Productions / Eccho Rights / BBC Scotland / BBC1 | As Lead Director |
GRANTCHESTER 2022 | Kudos / ITV | As Director |
BEST INTERESTS 2022 | AC Chapter One / Endeavor Content / Fifth Season / BBC1 | As 2nd Unit Director. |
HOLBY CITY 2021 | BBC | As Director |
ARMCHAIR DETECTIVES 2017 | Tiger Aspect/BBC1 | As Director |
Short Films
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
NAMES 2019 | Filming Scotland / Independents | As Director |
SEAGULLS 2014 | Creative Scotland/Scottish Shorts/Screen Films | As Writer/Director |
LIAR 2013 | Rankin Film/Collabor8te/Blue Iris Films | As Director |
TRACKS 2006 | Creative Scotland/UK Film Council/DigiCult/La Belle Allee | As Writer/Director |
ACCIDENTS 2006 | Scottish Screen/Sugartree Productions | As Writer/Director |
Documentaries
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
JIMMY 2011 | BBC Scotland/Creative Scotland/Scottish Documentary Institute | As Director/Cinematographer |
MY CITY EDINBURGH 2005 | Channel 4/Sugartree Productions | Director, 4 Episodes. Featuring Shirley Manson, John Bellany & Alex Arthur. |