Martin Smith
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.
He was lead director on GRANITE HARBOUR for LA Productions and BBC1, and recently directed GRANTCHESTER for Kudos, Masterpiece PBS and ITV.
He's currently directing SILENT WITNESS for BBC Studios and BBC1.
He 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 also directed 2nd unit on THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103 with World Productions for the BBC and Netflix, and Jimmy McGovern’s upcoming UNFORGIVABLE with LA Productions for the BBC which stars Bobby Schofield, Anna Friel and Anna Maxwell Martin.
Prior to this Martin directed HOLBY CITY for BBC1 and BBC Studios. The show was Nominated Best Continuing Drama at the BAFTAs, 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.
Film, TV & Theatre Agent
Film, TV & Theatre
Television
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
SILENT WITNESS 2025 | BBC / BBC Studios | As Director 2 x 60 mins. Producer: Seán Gleeson. Exec Prod: Suzi McIntosh, Emilia Fox, Nawfal Faizullah |
UNFORGIVABLE 2024-2025 | BBC / LA Productions | As 2nd Unit Director 1 x 90 mins. Writer: Jimmy McGovern. Producer: Donna Molloy Exec Prod: Jimmy McGovern, Colin McKeown, Katherine Bond, Nawfal Faizullah |
THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103 2024 | BBC / Netflix / World Productions | As 2nd Unit Director. 6x60mins. Producer: Julia Stannard Exec Prod: Gaynor Holmes. Mona Quereshi, Manda Levin, Max Kisbye, Simon Heath, Michael Keillor |
GRANITE HARBOUR 2 2023 | LA Productions / Eccho Rights / BBC Scotland / BBC1 | As Lead Director 2 x 60 min Producer: Donna Molloy Exec Prod: Gaynor Holmes, Gavin Smith, Colin McKeown |
GRANTCHESTER 2022 | Kudos / ITV | As Director 1 x 60' Producer: Tim Whitby Exec Producer: Emma Kingsman Lloyd, Daisy Coulham, Chloe Tucker. |
BEST INTERESTS 2022 | AC Chapter One / Endeavor Content / Fifth Season / BBC1 | As 2nd Unit Director 4 x 60mins Writer: Jack Thorne. Producer: Jenny Frayn. Exec Prod: Sophie Gardner, Toby Bentley, Lucy Richer. NOMINATEDBest Limited Series BAFTA TV Awards 2024 NOMINATEDBest Limited Series RTS Awards 2024 |
HOLBY CITY 2021 | BBC | As Director 2 x 50' Series Producer: Séan Gleeson Producer: Poz Watson Exec Producer: Kate Oates, Deborah Sathe NOMINATEDBest Continuing Drama at the Broadcast Awards 2022 NOMINATEDBest Continuing Drama at the BAFTA Awards 2022 |
ARMCHAIR DETECTIVES 2017 | Tiger Aspect/BBC1 | As Director 6 x 45' Episodes including Season Finale Starring Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Stephen Billington & Sarah Baxendale. WINNERBest Entertainment BAFTA Scotland Awards 2018 |
In Development
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
TARANTULA | Screen Scotland / First Features / 104 Films / BFI Network | Feature in development Martin to write and direct |
SHOWS | Creative Scotland/Screen Scotland/DigiCult | Feature in development Martin to write and direct |
NUMBERS | Original Series Martin to write and direct |
Short Films
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
NAMES 2019 | Filming Scotland / Independents | As Director WINNERGold Award, The Drum Roses Awards Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival |
SEAGULLS 2014 | Creative Scotland/Scottish Shorts/Screen Films | As Writer/Director WINNERof the Golden Reel Award for Best Short Children's Film - Tiburon International Film Festival, USA WINNERof the Outstanding Achievement Award of the State of California - Borrego Springs International Film Festival, USA NOMINATEDfor the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film - Berlin International Film Festival NOMINATEDBest Short Film - Hamburg International Short Film Festival NOMINATEDBest Short Film - Edinburgh International Film Festival NOMINATEDBest International Short Film - Bermuda International Film Festival NOMINATEDBest International Short Film - Internationale Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg, Germany NOMINATEDBest International Short Film - IndieCork International Film Festival NOMINATEDBest British Short Film - Leeds International Film Festival NOMINATEDBest International Short Film - Almeria En Corto International Film Festival, Spain NOMINATEDBest Scottish Short Film - Glasgow Film Festival NOMINATEDBest International Short Film - RiverRun International Film Festival, USA |
LIAR 2013 | Rankin Film/Collabor8te/Blue Iris Films | As Director WINNERBAFTA New Talent Award 'Best Writing' NOMINATEDBest International Short, IndieCork International Film Festival, Ireland NOMINATEDBest International Short, Bilbao International Short Film Festival NOMINATEDBest Scottish Short, Glasgow Short Film Festival |
TRACKS 2006 | Creative Scotland/UK Film Council/DigiCult/La Belle Allee | As Writer/Director WINNERBAFTA Scotland Award Best Short Film TCM Turner Classic Shorts Competition -Highly Commended NOMINATEDLos Angeles International Short Film Festival - Best Foreign Film NOMINATEDSau Paulo International Film Festival - Best International Short Film NOMINATEDRaindance Film Festival - Best UK Short NOMINATEDLeeds International Film Festival - Best UK Short Film NOMINATEDTirana International Film Festival - Best International Short Film |
ACCIDENTS 2006 | Scottish Screen/Sugartree Productions | As Writer/Director WINNERAppledore International Film Festival - Best Short Film NOMINATEDOberhausen Short Film Festival, Germany - Best International Short NOMINATEDCork International Film Festival - Best International Short NOMINATEDTiburon International Film Festival, USA - Best International Short NOMINATEDJim Poole Short Film Award, Scotland - Best Scottish Short NOMINATEDEdinburgh International Film Festival - Best British Short |
Documentaries
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
JIMMY 2011 | BBC Scotland/Creative Scotland/Scottish Documentary Institute | As Director/Cinematographer QUALIFIEDfor the Academy Award® Best Short Documentary Nomination WINNERof the Franklyn Marshall Award for Short Film at Curt. NOMINATEDDoc International Documentary Festival, Spain. NOMINATEDBAFTA Scotland New Talent Award - Best Director Of Photography WINNERSecond Prize ICCL Human Rights Film Awards, Dublin NOMINATEDfor The Bill Douglas Award for Best International Short film - Glasgow Short Film Festival NOMINATEDfor Best Short Film in the Scottish Short Film Awards - Glasgow Short Film Festival NOMINATEDfor Best International Short Film - Indianapolis International Film Festival |
MY CITY EDINBURGH 2005 | Channel 4/Sugartree Productions | Director of 4 Episodes. Featuring Shirley Manson, John Bellany & Alex Arthur. |