Damien D. Smith is an award-winning filmmaker using strategic storytelling to inspire and provoke change through social, political and corporate campaigns. Using his art to address sexism, racism, and bigotry, Smith drives intergenerational, cross-cultural conversations around mental illness, sexual abuse and environmental racism. His long list of high profile collaborations includes MAC, Facebook, Color of Change, Estée Lauder and others.
Smith is the co-founder of Detangled, a strategic platform for effective mass engagement using storytelling and community cultivation to drive social change at scale. Detangled is best known for the integrated campaign strategy it applied to nearly double voter turnout in Louisiana’s historic 2020 election, and to achieve the successful passage of the CROWN ACT across the state.
Prior to Detangled, the actor, writer and director founded 4910 Rosalie Productions where he is currently Creative Director. 4910 has partnered with social justice organizations across the country in collaborations infusing storytelling with grassroots organizing and issue based campaign work. Smith’s work is touted across the filmmaking world for its powerful ethos, giving a voice to the voiceless and amplifying critical issues facing the black community.
Smith’s short film, Daddy’s Big Girl, won the 2018 Filmmaker of the year at Gentleman Jack Reel to Real Short Film Competition. He also is the winner of the Arts with Impact Grand Prize Award for his short “About That.” His most recent documentary, Target: St. Louis Volume 1, was named the Best Documentary Feature Winner at the 2021 Urban World Film Festival. The film tells the story of the African Americans who survived the secret chemical testing conducted by the US Military in Northern St. Louis after World War II.
In July 2023, the LA Times reported that Smith was suing the LAPD for tasing him in his house when he called the police to report a burglary. He was making a film about police brutality at the time. The campaign for justice surrounding this case highlights the intersectionality of Smith’s critical contributions to the shaping of culture and to wholistic social justice activism.
Smith is driven by both a responsibility to shed light on injustice and oppression and a deep-rooted passion for community, faith, and social activism. His grandparents, who raised him in St. Louis, Missouri, instilled in him a deep sense of empathy, cultivating his desire to shed light on various injustices and all of the“isms” that keep people from truly connecting.
Smith’s stage and television credits include the NAACP Theater Award-winning production of “12×9,” and most recently the television series “Snowfall” on Fx Networks and “The
Purge”on USA networks.
Learn more about Damien Smith’s journey in his Black Genius episode below.