Today we’d like to introduce you to Dathan Smith.
Hi Dathan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I grew up in West Texas with a graduating class of 11. I was very active in school and community theater where I earned a Theater Scholarship to West Texas A&M. From there I moved to Dallas to pursue acting full-time. I was lucky to become Sag Eligible early on. After 10 years in Dallas, I moved to New Orleans to partake in the booming industry at that time. I was fortunate enough to work on many major films, mostly doing stand-in work on 22 Jump St, Mr. Right, Scream Queens, and more. After a few years of moving around, I found myself back in Dallas. I began doing headshot photography and picked up my passion for writing. During that time, I fell in love and moved just across the border into Oklahoma. Since my move 6 years ago, I have photographed many actors in Dallas and Oklahoma. Moving to the country also allotted me more time to focus on writing. I created an original anthology series titled L.I.F.E. And with the help of Producer Maria Robles, I was able to locate a fantastic DP. Kelly Riot came aboard and now we have 4 award-winning episodes with a fifth in development. The series features many Dallas and Oklahoma talent, and we are thrilled with its continued festival success. While attending many of these festivals, I got the inspiration to start a film festival with Uraina Smith (no relation) of Pauls Valley, OK. I met Uraina after I sent out a notice for crew for Episode 3 of my series. We had our first annual Red Brick Road Film Festival last October and are excited to share the amazing submissions for our 2nd year.
As an actor, my career has flourished here. I worked with Dennis Quaid in the upcoming feature Reagan. Had a co-star with Sylvester Stallone on the hit show Tulsa King. I’ve also been blessed with billboards and many other great commercial opportunities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a long road and not a smooth one. But that’s life. You have to take the bad and hopefully turn it into something good. Those life experiences can lend a broader understanding of human reaction and interaction. It’s made me a better writer, actor, and overall human being. I feel you learn the most about yourself when you are at your lowest because you have to fight so hard to resurface.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an actor, award-winning writer/director, and headshot photographer. I also do social media marketing and web design for Costume World in Dallas on Inwood and the Wick Theatre and Museum Club in Boca Raton, FL
I’m most proud of my series L.I.F.E. and it wouldn’t have been possible without Maria Robles, Kelly Riot, Kevin Clark and Michele Condrey.
I feel like what sets me apart from other headshot photographers is that as an actor I know what is needed to market myself when submitting, and as a director, I know what I want to see from actors in a headshot.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
When I first came up with the idea for my series, Maria Robles was extremely instrumental. She was already producing on another project, and it gave me inspiration to begin filming my own work. She found Kelly Riot who is an incredible DP among many other talents. Kelly took the series to another level as far as presenting a professional quality piece. After 2 episodes another very important person came into the circle, Kevin Clark. Kevin came on as an Executive Producer and even became an award-winning actor for his performance in Episode 3. After episode we were honored to have Michele Condrey also come on as an Executive Producer. Without these 4, the series might have never come to fruition.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dathansmith.com
- Other: http://imdb.me/DathanSmith https://www.redbrickroadfilmfestival.com/
Image Credits
Kevin Clark
Uraina Smith
Sylvester Stallone
Kelly Riot
Bruce Melena
Seamus McManus
Donnie Rollings
Michelle Sherrill
Clay Jones
