Christopher F. Smith is a creative strategist, filmmaker, writer and marketer living in San Francisco, California.

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Our Bags Were Filled With Fruit We Were Smuggling
Documentary short
Producer, Director

A San Francisco street artist writes poems in a name-your-price/name-your-topic arrangement and talks about the experience of being at the nexus of capitalism and art.


PostClick
Fictional short
Producer, Writer, Director

The demands of maintaining an influential and important online persona have forced the media-obsessed to hire near-full-time Trailers who follow them throughout the day to record and photograph their actions and  post their thoughts and opinions. But when a Trailer is fired for making a couple mistakes, we learn just how connected one’s online and offline can become.

The Where-Is-Your-God-Now? Burger
Short film
Writer, producer

Two of Southern California's favorite foods - together, for better or worse. I wrote and developed this short commercial/film specifically as a viral video to promote the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking. Basically, it's a culinary disaster of delicious proportions.

I wrote a fairly in-depth article about the effort in an SF Examiner piece.

The Delivery
Fictional short
Assistant Director

A mother and son, each living a lie, are forced to reckon with each other as their lies collide one afternoon. In the end they see just how much they have in common.

GoCar Tours DVD
Producer, Director
(Currently in pre-production)

A GoCar tour is one of San Francisco's most popular and exciting tourist activities. Over 20,000 people have driven the computer-guided talking cars to date and the concept has garned rave reviews from around the world.

I am producing and directing a series of videos that follows the car's path as it winds through the city catching all the attractions and highlights from the car's perspective.

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San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking (SFSDF) is one of the nation's leading film schools. With a proven curriculum in place and basic operational challenges addressed, SFSDF was ready to embark on an ambitious marketing campaign designed to raise awareness, strengthen reputation and, of course, increase enrollment.

SFSDF needed someone with the experience to both develop and implement fresh marketing strategies within challenging parameters. With proven start-up knowledge and experience in the film industry, I contributed immediately to the school's overall branding and positioning, strategic business development and core marketing DNA.

- Produced and directed a series of student interviews
- Wrote and directed a strategically designed, brand-awareness-building, short film
- Produced and directed an interview with filmmaker Jon Bowden.

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I wanted to strengthen San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking's reputation and standing in the San Francisco film community by contributing to the conversations that define it. Like any passionate field, an existing community respects and welcomes people that give back to it - people that speak from experience and authenticity. So, to bolster the school's standing both locally and nationally, I became the San Francisco Movie Examiner. I write about online film, indie film developments and film-related ephemera focusing on the San Francisco area.

Now, with a byline that proudly displays my affiliation with the school and our sister company, Fog City Pictures, I am exposing our institutions to a much broader audience while securing a position as a thought leader in our industry.

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After Mocapay (see below) shifted its identity and engaged in large-scale lay-offs, I found myself ready to start something new. Determined to stick with a personal passion, I combined my strong entrepreneurial drive with my fondness for motorcycles and developed the framework for a motorcycle-centric news/social network property named Motorcycles OK.

I flew out to San Francisco to meet a programmer and explain the overall strategy. A working model was created and I began content practice runs as we learned the Joomla platform. The project never reached escape velocity, however,  and we decided to shelve it for a later date. The rough proof-of-concept is still live. 

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Recruited to Boulder, CO to help launch what is fast becoming the nation's premier mobile payment platform. As is customary in a tech start-up, I contributed to the development of everything from collateral copy, business strategy, creative branding and what kind of water with which to stock the 'fridge in the hallway. Additionally, I was leading salesperson while managing a merchant acquisition team of six.

As the Mocapay expanded, I relocated to Cincinnati, OH where I was the sole company representative and as such was responsible for all merchant and consumer-related concerns. Additionally, I managed the on-site deployment and operation of Mocapay's proof-of-concept initiative at national grocer, Kroger.

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Nestle asked guerillaPR to help build their new teen portal - The Cooler. I sought out some of the web's most influential teen writers in fashion, video games, music and movies to be part of this new initiative. I managed the writers and facilitated their contributions to the site. Additionally, I sought out complimentary alignments and agreements and consulted on the approach of The Cooler's foray into the teen market. Have a look.

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Working in conjunction with Konami and guerillaPR's internal web developer, I helped design and manage the online promotions for both Coded Arms and Death JR on Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP). These were critical releases as Coded Arms was the first first-person-shooter (FPS) released on the PSP and Death JR had a rabid and vocal fanbase that could doom the game from the start. We had to do a good job.

I coordinated the outline of targets, managed online marketing efforts and contributed to the overall success of the campaigns. Tactics including creating MySpace profiles, webmaster outreach, blog efforts and extensive community engagement. Our efforts made hundreds of thousands of positive impressions while rallying existing fans and creating new ones.

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VIZ Media is a leader in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America and a global licensor of Japanese animation. In short, they make killer cartoons!

We had the opportunity to promote two of their newest titles Zatch Bell and Naruto. With a decidedly younger audience in mind, I managed the research and compilation of target audiences, created the messaging and picked the resources to put on the project.
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Dell was releasing a new MP3 player - the Dell Ditty. This tiny little widget was small enough to go anywhere and packed enough songs to keep you on the road with fresh tunes for a long time. Dell chose to take a wacky approach with the release. They created a character called Mitch Ferrance that would show you the wonders of the Ditty through clumsy air guitar, ghastly dance moves and other shenanigans.

My job was to tap the best employees, allocate time, manage and track placements and catalog feedback. If you have a few moments, have a look at the campaign.
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As GoCar's first employee, I played an integral role in getting the company off the ground. From the raw concepting behind the messaging for all marketing and press materials to arranging tourist industry presentations, I was the point person as GoCar began to make headlines in The New York Times , USAToday and others. More than a distant PR flack, I manned the front desk, fixed engines and shared stories and experiences with tourists from across the world. The original Press Kit.
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I launched a magazine. There. I said it. I have always had a strong affinity for film and a parallel appreciation for the publishing world. Colorado had - and still has - strong independent film and production communities and I felt that they weren't getting their due. So I set out to create a vehicle that would acknowledge the efforts of local and regional filmmakers and promote their works. The magazine and complimentary website were very well received. I did the rounds and garned coverage in The Denver Post, Colorado Public Radio and The Reggie Williams Radio Show (locally famous, trust me.)
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After losing lots of money to the venerable Craigslist, the San Francisco Chronicle needed a jolt to their Classifieds. I was brought in to think up some good ideas - and put them in words. I created print, online, TV and Radio ads that promoted the Chronicle's new offerings.
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One of the world's foremost outfitters was gearing up for several catalogue releases - and they needed help. I was brought in (literally, as I lived in Denver and HQ was in Nebraska. I lived in a hotel with my dog) to help write extensive catalog copy. From fishing waders and beef jerky making kits to high-end Canons, I wrote compelling copy for an estimated readership of over 1 million.
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Cheap Tickets was ready to step up and be a big Player in the online travel game. A pending re-design needed a textual touch and I stepped in to write, edit and manage content deployment to the new sites. Apart from liasing content issues and core writing, I contributed ideas to the Vacation Package department, wrote monthly email blasts to an audience of hundreds of thousands and contibuted to other projects.
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Big race, big promotion. The Big Kahuna race was coming up fast and Speedvision needed a good TV commercial. I sat down in a studio and cooked up the copy and helped to design the look and feel of the spot. Start your engines....

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Working with Insight Digital Cable, Starz! was rolling out a new service offering for college students. With the start of the school year, students were faced with many choices. We tried to make their cable TV choice an easy one. The approach I created was used on radio as well as print in local publications and banners on campus. Additionally, I concepted a door-hanger approach for marketing materials.
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Action sports was where all the, uh, "action" was in 2002. The X-Games were on fire, Tony Hawk had a video game and brash kid-athletes were hawking everything from soda to pogo-sticks. As one of the first brands of this industry, Airwalk had a strong legacy and big plans for the future. I wrote the athlete bios for the Airwalk skate, BMX and snowboards teams as well as the skaters for the fledgling, ultra-premium skate brand Genetic. These bios were the go-to materials for TV announcers for the X-Games and other competitions and were included in all Airwalk marketing initiatives and press efforts.
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Expanets was one of the nation's most respected telecom/networking strategy and deployment companies. They had launched a new practice within the company and asked me to give it an identity. Called the eSolutions Group, this effort was designed to fully leverage the emerging power of the Internet to increase efficiency, fine tune business processes and integrate and enhance systems and networks. I concepted and wrote the web copy as well as sales sheets for each vertical: Commerce, eSolutions Discovery, Web Enablement and Knowledge Management. Expanets has since been sold to Avaya.
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Originally hired as the copywriter for Denver-based DNA Advertising, the firm was soon scooped up by an up-n-coming IT consultancy. I was charged with creating the identity of this new company complete with web copy, recruiting pieces, sales sheets, direct mail and the primary brochure. Working closely with the Art Director and Chief Strategy Officer, I helped to craft the voice of the the company.
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The leader in home-grown eyewear, Colorado's own Mountain Shades/Optic Nerve have stood up against ocular-protection giants and maintained their focus on being one of the best sunglass companies in the country. Optic Nerve, the edgier sibling, came to my company for a brand assessment. I researched the competitive landscape and provided a detailed analysis of current and future opportunities for the company. Additionally, I wrote all the copy for the 2002 Mountain Shades dealer catalog.
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In the midst of the Dot Com explosion, PentaStar was one of the nation's largest telecommunications service providers. By consolidating dozens of smaller, similar firms, PentaStar began to grow - and need support material. I wrote the company's tagline, web copy, primary sales brochure, and an array of sales sheets. PentaStar Communications is no longer in operation - a victim of the times. Not even the trusty Wayback Machine could bring up their website.
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Staffscapes is one of the Rocky Mountain region's premier Professional Employer Organization (PEO). They were ready for a complete make-over and I led the content efforts. I came up with the new name, tagline, wrote all copy for the website and three versions of their brochure as well as two direct mail pieces.

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As a multi-tasking editorial assistant, I contributed to almost every phase of the monthly release of the magazine. I wrote profile pieces on action sports athletes, gear reviews, scene reports and others. For one piece on spring hiking trips I actually got, uh, lost-ish. That is, I knew where I was in the big picture, but could not find these darned natural arches I needed to take photos of for the article. But I eventually got the shots and put together a good article.