Biography

John Smithson is an Oscar® Best Picture nominee and BAFTA, Emmy, Peabody, and Grierson award-winning producer and executive in non-scripted film and television based in London, England.

Smithson has been responsible for hundreds of hours of high-quality TV for leading global platforms and broadcasters, ranging from feature documentaries to long-running factual series, achieving critical and commercial success.

His most notable works include originating and producing the Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film 127 Hours, the BAFTA-winning landmark documentary Touching the Void, as well as the BAFTA and London Film Festival-winning documentary Sherpa.

He co-founded Darlow Smithson Productions in 1988 and led its growth into one of the world's foremost non-fiction producers, and a trailblazer for UK expansion into the US factual market. The company was acquired by sports and media giant IMG in 2006 and later by Endemol in 2009.

In 2011, Smithson co-founded Arrow Media, which rapidly became a creative powerhouse delivering more than 100 hours of world-class TV to the UK, US and international markets each year. In 2023, Arrow was acquired by French media group Asacha, which has since become part of Fremantle.

In 2025, Smithson founded his own production company, Smithson Media, to focus on a slate of ambitious projects, while acting as a key creative and strategic advisor in content creation and management.
- IMDb mini biography by: John Smithson