Aaron Smith ACS is a multi-award winning cinematographer, director and producer working on documentary, drama, comedy and commercial productions. A cinematography Masters graduate of the Australian Film Television & Radio School, he has collaborated with a diverse range of respected, innovative and awarded producers throughout Australia and across the world. He was accredited by the Australian Cinematographers Society in 2021.

Aaron was the cinematographer on Sarah Ferguson’s AACTA and Walkley award winning documentary series Hitting Home, and the Walkley and ACS award winning series Revelation. He shot the Walkley and AACTA nominated investigative documentary The Queen and Zak Grieve and the primetime ABC arts documentaries Matilda & Me and Making Muriel for In Films. Aaron was cinematographer on the first series of the AACTA winning Employable Me and contributed to ABC/Netflix’s Love On The Spectrum. He was the director of photography on the Blackfella Films long-form observational documentary series Addicted Australia and the landmark ABC arts series Books That Made Us, presented by Claudia Karvan. He directed and shot the ABC’s Take 5 With Zan Rowe and The ABC Of… Presented by David Wenham. Aaron was director of photography on the feature documentary John Farnham: Finding The Voice, which broke box office records becoming the highest grossing Australian feature-length documentary of all time.

Aaron co-created, produced, directed and shot the ground-breaking series You Can’t Ask That, winner of Rose d’Or, AACTA and United Nations Association of Australia awards. With over a dozen international remakes, and close to 50 international sales, the format is the ABC’s most successful format ever. He directed the entertainment series The Checkout, The Hamster Wheel, Myf Warhurts’s Nice and Hungry Beast for the ABC; and the provocative documentary series Dumb, Drunk and Racist and Head First for ABC2.

Aaron was the director of photography on Stan’s narrative comedy series Plonk, shot entirely on location in the wine regions of NSW, Canberra and South Australia. He shot comedy sketches for ABC’s How Not To Behave and was the cinematographer of the narrative comedy ABC Fresh Blood: Be Your Own Boss. He was a cinematographer/director on the ABC’s AACTA nominated lockdown comedy series At Home Alone Together. Aaron has short a range of narrative short films selected for Flickerfest, Melbourne International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival and Palm Spring International Shortfest. Working with a team of animators and 3D lighting technicians, he was director of photography on the groundbreaking video game LA Noire, produced by Rockstar Games and Team Bondi.

He was a finalist in the National Portrait Gallery's National Photographic Portrait Prize and his portrait photography has circulated on an official Australia Post stamp series and on the cover of The Green Guide and The Australian newspaper. He has shot commercial content for brands including The London Symphony Orchestra, The Sydney Opera House, The Commonwealth Bank, Samsung, Optus, Citibank, JP Morgan, IBM, Blackmores, Mitsubishi Electric, Vic Roads, Alzheimer's Australia and Lipton and collaborated on productions for National Geographic, TEDx Sydney, ACMI, GetUp, Griffith University, The Queensland Government and Destination NSW.

SELECT CREDITS:

CINEMATOGRAPHER or DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

  • I WAS ACTUALLY THERE (6 x 30min documentary series, Docker Media + ABC)
    Directed by Kirk Docker

  • BETTER DATE THAN NEVER s2 (co-DOP with Dave May ACS, 7 x 30min documentary series, Northern Pictures + ABC)
    Directed by Mariel Thomas

  • JOHN FARNHAM: FINDING THE VOICE (feature-length documentary, Beyond and Sony Music)
    Directed by Poppy Stockell
    Winner — AACTA Award for Best Documentary, 2024
    The highest grossing Australian feature-length documentary of all time

  • TAKE 5 WITH ZAN ROWE (series 1-3, ABC TV)
    Winner — Australian Cinematographers Society Award (Silver — Entertainment/Magazine), 2022
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Factual Entertainment Program, 2024

  • THE ABC OF… (series 1 & 2, Guesswork Television + ABC)

  • THE ENDANGERED GENERATION (feature-length documentary, Sweetshop & Green)
    Directed by Celeste Geer

  • MEET THE PENGUINS (1 x 60min documentary, Northern Pictures + ABC)
    Directed by Karina Holden
    Winner — Australian Cinematographers Society Award (Gold — Wildlife and Nature), 2022

  • SOUTHERN OCEAN LIVE — Shy Albatross and Penguin sequences
    Directed by Karina Holden
    Winner — Australian Cinematographers Society Award (Silver — Wildlife and Nature), 2022

  • BOOKS THAT MADE US (3 x 60min documentary series, Blackfella Films + ABC)
    Directed by Sally Aitken
    Winner — Australian Cinematographers Society Award (Gold — Entertainment/Magazine), 2022

  • ADDICTED AUSTRALIA (4 x 60min documentary series, Blackfella Films and SBS)
    Directed by Jacob Hickey
    Nominee — Walkley Documentary Award, 2021

  • REVELATION (3 x 90min doco series, In Film + ABC)
    Produced/Directed by Nial Fulton and Sarah Ferguson
    Winner — Australian Cinematographers Society Award (Gold — Documentary), 2020
    Winner — Walkley Documentary Award, 2020
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary, 2020
    Nominee — Walkley Award for Camerawork, 2020

  • AT HOME ALONE TOGETHER (8 x 30min comedy series, ABC TV)
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Comedy Series, 2020

  • YOU CAN’T ASK THAT (series 1-4, 40 x 30min factual/entertainment series, ABC)
    Directed by Aaron Smith and Kirk Docker
    Winner — Rose d'Or Best Reality and Factual Entertainment Program, 2017
    Winner — AACTA Award for Best Factual Entertainment Program, 2019
    Winner — 3 x United Nations Association of Australia Media Awards, 2017
    Winner — Media Diversity Australian Walkley Award, 2019
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, 2018
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Direction in Non-Fiction Television, 2018
    Nominee — Logie Award for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program, 2018
    Nominee — Australian Human Rights Awards, 2018
    Nominee — MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards, 2019
    Nominee — Television Business International’s Content Innovation Awards, 2019

  • ABC FRESH BLOOD: BE YOUR OWN BOSS (30min narrative comedy, ABC + Giant Dwarf)
    Directed by Henry Stone

  • BIRD NERD: THE ART OF LEILA JEFFREYS (30min documentary, 3rd Gen Productions + ABC)
    Directed by Poppy Stockell

  • THE CROWN AND US (3 x 60min documentary series, Fredbird Entertainment + ABC)
    Directed by Bernice Toni

  • THE QUEEN & ZAK GRIEVE (6 x 13min documentary series, The Australian online + In Films)
    Directed by Ivan O'Mahoney
    Nominee — Walkley Award for Television/Video Camerawork, 2017
    Nominee — Walkley Award for Production, 2017
    Nominee — Australian Screen Producers Awards - Documentary Series Award, 2017
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, 2018
    Nominee — Logie Award for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program, 2018

  • EMPLOYABLE ME (3 x 60min documentary series, ABC + Northern Pictures)
    Directed by Cian O'Clery
    Winner — AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, 2018
    Nominee — Australian Human Rights Awards, 2018
    Nominee — Logie Award for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program, 2019

  • MAKING MURIEL (1 x 60min documentary, ABC + In Films)
    Directed by Nel Minchin

  • HITTING HOME (2 x 60min documentary, ABC + In Films)
    Directed by Ivan O'Mahoney
    Winner — Walkley Documentary Award, 2016
    Winner — AACTA Award for Best Television Documentary, 2016
    Winner — Amnesty International Media Award, 2016

  • HELLO STRANGER (10 x 20min documentary, ABC iView)
    Directed by Aaron Smith and Kirk Docker

  • MATILDA & ME (60min documentary, ABC + In Films)
    Directed by Nel Minchin
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Television Documentary, 2016

  • OPTUS: IN THE POOL WITH IAN THORPE (Rio Olympics branded content, Jungle)
    Directed by Craig Melville

  • PLONK series 1 & 2 (12 x 30min narrative comedy, One Stone Pictures + ITV Australia)
    Directed by Nathan Earl

  • I’M YOU, DICK HEAD (short film)
    Directed by Lucas Testro
    Official selection — Flickerfest, Melbourne International Film Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival

  • STOP LAUGHING… THIS IS SERIOUS series 1-2 (6 x 60min documentary, ABC + Screentime)
    Directed by Stephen Oliver and Craig Anderson

  • HOW NOT TO BEHAVE - sketches (ABC + Screentime)
    Directed by Craig Anderson

  • WHAT’S THE CATCH (SBS + Essential Media)
    Directed by Stephen Oliver

  • COUNTRY TOWN RESCUE (ABC + Zapruder's Other Films)
    Directed by Debbie Cuell

  • L.A. NOIRE cut scenes (video game, Rockstar Games + Team Bondi)

 

DIRECTOR , PRODUCER or SHOOTER/DIRECTOR

  • TAKE 5 WITH ZAN ROWE (director, 6 x 30min music interview series, ABC TV)
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Factual Entertainment Program, 2024

  • THE ABC OF… (director, 12 x 30min interview series, Guesswork Television + ABC)

  • ADDICTED AUSTRALIA (shooter/director, 3 x 60min documentary series, Blackfella Films and SBS)
    Nominee — Walkley Documentary Award, 2020

  • AT HOME ALONE TOGETHER (segment director, 8 x 30min comedy series, ABC TV)
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Comedy Series, 2020

  • YOU CAN’T ASK THAT (series producer/director/cinematographer, factual entertainment series 1-4, ABC TV)
    Winner — Rose d'Or Best Reality and Factual Entertainment Program, 2017
    Winner — AACTA Award for Best Factual Entertainment Program, 2019
    Winner — 3 x United Nations Association of Australia Media Awards, 2017
    Winner — Media Diversity Australian Walkley Award, 2019
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, 2018
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Direction in Non-Fiction Television, 2018
    Nominee — Logie Award for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program, 2018
    Nominee — Australian Human Rights Awards, 2018
    Most watched non-fiction show on ABC iView, 2016
    ABC’S most successful international format ever

  • HELLO STRANGER (series producer/director/cinematographer, 10 x 20min documentary, ABC)

  • FILTHY, RICH & HOMELESS (shooter/director, 3 x 60min documentary series, Blackfella Films + SBS)

  • THE FULL BRAZILIAN Brazil sketches (producer/director/cinematographer SBS + CJZ)

  • MAKING FAMILIES HAPPY (shooter/director, 3 x 60min documentary, Heiress Pictures + ABC)

  • THE CHECKOUT (director, series 1-2, ABC + Giant Dwarf)
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Light Entertainment TV Series
    Nominee — Eureka Prize for Science Journalism

  • HEAD FIRST (series director/cinematographer, 5 x 45 min documentary, ABC + Mushroom Pictures)
    Nominee — United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award

  • DUMB, DRUNK & RACIST (series director, 6 x 30min documentary, ABC + Cordell Jigsaw)

  • THE HAMSTER WHEEL (director, comedy series, ABC + The Chaser)
    Nominee — AACTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series
    Nominee — Logie Award for Most Outstanding Entertainment Program

  • YES WE CANBERRA (director, 6 x 30min comedy series ABC + The Chaser)

  • MYF WARHURST’S NICE (series director, 6 x 30min documentary series, ABC)

  • HUNGRY BEAST - series 1-3 (shooter/director, ABC + Zapruder's Other Films)
    Winner — Walkley Award for TV Current Affairs (under 20 minutes)
    Nominee — AFI Award for Best TV Light Entertainment
    Nominee — United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award