About Keith
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Keith Smith is an Indigenous-Canadian author, director, screenwriter, producer and play-write with 30 years of experience. Forever inquisitive, Smith was always found tinkering with gadgets, trying to figure out what made them tick. With his natural curiosity in technology, he was driven into computer programming/systems design. After graduating, Smith began working as a business tech analyst. Above all else, Keith Smith is a family man. Being a father of 4 and grandfather of 6 - he continues to fan a familial curiosity in the generations to come.
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Some years in to his working life, Smith was diagnosed with MS and was unable to go back to work, leaving him to explore his artistic efforts. Smith would take up writing and film, utilizing his curiosity to dissect the abstract and create something out of it. In his time, he has gone on to write over 40 short stories and produce 3 internationally award winning films, as well as his time in theatre, directing over 40 plays, writing and producing 6.
When he isn’t creating, he is a lover of travel, amateur radio (VA3HXC), an avid scuba diver, has flown airplanes and raced Ferraris (just don’t ask how the Ferrari’s doing). While that is a lot, Smith still finds time for public speaking, to be a business consultant for non-profits and a sitting board member of various organizations.
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Due to his unique experiences, Smith has honed his storytelling to enlighten us with his observations of the microcosms of life.
Why I do what I do
Whether it be through film, theatre, or on the page, my desire is to focus on small human moments - familiar experiences we all share - and the beauty therein.
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From there, I enjoy developing themes and zooming out to the broader setting. Creating a rich world and captivating motives for my characters to explore.
The “why” behind a character’s actions is just as, if not more exciting than the actions themselves. When a character has a compelling motivation, another story can get told through the audience’s imaginations. They can decide how back stories unfolded, walk in the character’s shoes and feel the emotions they went through to end up where they are.
My hope is to create an understanding between people that highlights the complexity in humanity. Regardless of your situation, we all experience loss, love, triumph, failure, and so much more. What I am interested in is showing how different that may look for a variety of different people.
Furthermore, through challenging my audience with flawed characters and having the audience empathize with them, I hope to spark a further investigation.
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Despite their flaws, these characters are still human.
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I hope that my audience can recognize their own flaws, accept them, and grow to be better in spite of them.
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