Directing

David Smick

David M. Smick, Sr., began his career as a global macroeconomic strategist, magazine publisher, and best-selling author, and is now a documentary filmmaker. He founded Johnson Smick International, a global strategic advisory firm in Washington, D.C., where he was in partnership with former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Manuel H. Johnson. The firm has provided strategic advice to some of the world's most successful investors. David Smick has written op-ed pieces for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today. He has appeared as a commentator on a variety of news outlets including CNN, CNBC, The Charlie Rose Show, Bloomberg News, Fox Business, and Morning Joe. In 2020 (with help from Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson who served as executive producer), Smick wrote and directed Stars and Strife, a full-length documentary that predicted a coming tidal wave of political, social, and economic division in America and throughout the industrialized world. Tom Friedman of the New York Times described the film as “an incredible work.” Stars and Strife was acquired by Lionsgate and premiered on Starz on September 21, 2020.