Born in Houston, Texas, Smith traveled the world with his family growing up, attending school in Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and Costa Rica. Always drawn to the arts, particularly music and film, he has been writing consistently since childhood.

Smith first began working in the Houston indie film scene in 2008, making films for the 48HFP and writing scripts for others, including the 2016 award winning short film "Seeds" (WorldFest Houston), directed by frequent collaborator Merry Dawn.

A formally educated and trained chef, Smith finds many similarities between leading a team preparing fine dining cuisine and leading a team producing films, saying, "both a chef and a film director (especially a writer-director) must direct the course of their team so they end up with a final product that matches their culinary/cinematic vision.