Genevieve Clay-Smith

Genevieve Clay-Smith (born 1988)[1] is an Australian writer and director. She is an advocate of inclusive filmmaking.[2]

Genevieve Clay-Smith
Born1988 (age 32–33)
Australia
NationalityAustralian
Alma materHunter School of the Performing Arts
OccupationWriter
Film director

Clay-Smith's career as a writer and a film director began in 2009 when her film, starring a man with Down syndrome, won Australia's largest short film festival,[3] Tropfest. She is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the not-for-profit organisation Bus Stop Films (BSF)[4] and co-founder and Creative Director of the creative agency, Taste Creative.[5][6]

Early-life

Clay-Smith grew up in Newcastle and attended the Hunter School of the Performing Arts in Broadmeadow. As an actress in the local children's theatre called the 'Young People's Theatre,’ she was cast as Nancy Cakebread in the Australian feature film, 15 Almore (1998).[7]

Clay-Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree, majoring in Media Arts and Production/ Mass Communication, from the University of Technology Sydney in 2008. She was then accepted into the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) where she completed her Masters of Screen Arts in 2013.

She is an alumnus of the Foundation for Young Australians, Young Social Pioneers (YSP) program, where she received a 12-month scholarship to be mentored and trained in social entrepreneurship in 2010.

Early career

Clay-Smith developed an interest in representing disability on screen when she was employed to make a feature-length documentary for Down Syndrome New South Wales in 2007. In 2009, at the age of 20, she won the 'Best Film' award at Tropfest, with a short film named 'Be My Brother.' The film starred a man with Down syndrome and was created with the support of various crew members with disabilities, who worked with and learnt from professional crew members on set.

Clay-SMith was the director of Beyond Vision from 2010 – 2011, NSW only blind acting ensemble held at the Power House Youth Theatre in Fairfield.

Career

In 2009 Clay-Smith co-founded the not for profit organisation Bus Stop Films, and she co-founded Taste Creative in 2010. She has been forging pathways for inclusion in the film industry.[8] She has campaigned for the need to incorporate more inclusion and diversity on the film screen and within the media. She has forged a partnership between BSF and AFTRS, facilitating Bus Stop's students with intellectual disabilities access to the film, television and radio industries.

Clay-Smith was a stakeholder and consultant of the 2017 Screen NSW ScreenAbility initiative. She received an AMP Tomorrow Makers grant[9] in 2016 which enabled her to spend 18 months writing Bus Stop Films' Accessible Film Studies Curriculum and turning it into an online resource.

In 2016, Clay-Smith was invited by the NSW Minister for the Arts to join the Arts and Culture Advisory Board Committee,[10] to advise the government and help influence policy on matters pertaining to developing and promoting the arts and culture of NSW.  

Clay-Smith has given presentations at the BBC Manchester, the Extraordinary Film Festival in Belgium,[11] Walt Disney Animation Studios HQ in Burbank and the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. In January 2018, she finished her first international project in Japan, titled 'Shakespeare in Tokyo', which combined a workshop and professional work experience for six Japanese people with Down syndrome.[12] Shakespeare in Tokyo was launched at the international film festival Short Shorts Film Festival with the Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike.

In March 2018, Clay-Smith was invited to deliver the closing keynote speech[13] at the Toronto International Film Festival – Kids section, where she presented on BSF and the power of inclusive filmmaking.  

Clay-Smith released her children's book I Didn't Like Hubert in 2018, with all proceeds being donated to the Humpty Dumpty Foundation.[14]

Awards

Clay-Smith won the award of Young Australian Filmmaker at the 2014 Byron Bay International Film Festival for the film The Interviewer. She was the 2014 winner of the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Award, where she was recognised as the overall winner in the Young Leader category for her contribution to creating inclusion within the film industry.[15]

In 2015, Clay-Smith was named the NSW Young Australian of the Year.[16] In 2017, she was the winner of the Entrepreneurial Award in the B&T 30 under 30 awards.  In the same year, she was awarded the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship grant[17] to support her professional work.

In 2018, Clay-Smith and her husband Henry Smith accepted the Optus My Business Award as Taste Creative won the Media, Marketing & Advertising Business of the Year award.[18]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2018 Shakespeare in Tokyo Writer / Director/ Actress DRAMA

An inclusively made project in Japan, which Engaged six people with Down Syndrome in Workshop then work experience on set.

2017 I Am Black and Beautiful Executive Producer & Co-Producer DOCUMENTARY

The inclusive film made through Bus Stop Films documentary film studies program

2017 Inclusion Makes the World More Vibrant Writer / Director DRAMA

A little boy helps his blind mother experience an art gallery in a surprising and unusual way.

2016 Under the Sun Writer / Director COMEDY -  Web series

Distributed on ABC iview

2016 Kill Off Writer / Director / Mentor DOCUMENTARY

A woman with an intellectual disability forms an unlikely friendship with a Sudanese refugee through their mutual love of KRUMP.

2016 Gambling with Minds Director / Mentor EXPERIMENTAL

The documentary took seven people with complex and persistent mental health issues through a 10-week documentary studies program,

through the program the class wrote about their experiences of mental health and together we created this film.

2015 Heartbreak and Beauty Writer / Director / Mentor 12 people with intellectual disabilities devised this film through a 10-month filmmaking program. The film explores the pain and joy

of relationships.

2014 Work Mate Writer / Director COMEDY

An introverted worker tries desperately to avoid his new colleague who is blind. Made for Australia Post

2013 I Am Emmanuel Writer / Director DRAMA

A young Sudanese refugee tries desperately not to let his past define his future.

2012 The Interviewer Writer / Director / Mentor COMEDY/DRAMA

Made inclusively through a 12-month film studies program for people with an intellectual disability. Distributed on Arte TV Germany

2009 Be My Brother Writer / Director COMEDY/DRAMA

A young man's charm and charisma challenge the prejudices of a woman at a bus stop.

Awards & nominations
Year Award Result
2019 The Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence award for Diversity and Inclusion[19] Won
2019 Telstra Australian Business Women of the Year Awards: National Emerging Leader Award Won
2019 Telstra Australian Business Women of the Year Awards: New South Wales Emerging Leader Award Won
2018 Optus My Business Awards - Taste Creative won Media, Marketing & Advertising Business of the Year Won
2017 Recipient of a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship Won
2017 B&T's 30 Under 30 Entrepreneur Award winner Won
2016 NSW/ ACT Arts and Fashion Young Achiever Award Won
2016 Human Rights Award for Community Organisation, presented to Bus Stop Films, under the leadership of Genevieve Clay-Smith Won
2016 Australian Directors Guild Award Won
2016 Best Student Film for I Am Emmanuel Won
2016 Screen Australia's Women in Film Gender Matters Project Development Grant recipient Won
2015 NSW Young Australian of the Year Won
2015 Women's Weekly Woman of the Future Award Won
2015 B&T Women in Media award winner for Creative Won
2015 University of Technology Sydney Young Alumni Award Australian Directors Guild Award Best Direction in a student film for 'I Am Emmanuel Won
2015 Human Rights and Arts Film Festival award - Best Film for "I Am Emmanuel" Won
2014 AFTRS and KB Myer Project development grant Won
2014 Westpac and Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Award Winner for Young Leader Won
2013 Human Rights and Arts Film Festival award - Best Film for "The Interviewer Won
2013 Byron Bay Young Filmmaker Award Won
2009 Tropfest - Best Film for "Be My Brother" Won
2008 University of Technology Sydney Social Justice Media Award Won

References
  1. White, Sue (28 January 2017). "Meet the boss: Filmmaker Genevieve Clay-Smith". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  2. "Inclusive Storytelling". aftrs.edu.au. Australian Film and Television School. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  3. Writer, Garry Maddox Film (28 February 2009). "He's my Tropfest brother". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  4. "Bus Stop Films". Bus Stop Films. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  5. "Women of Influence have a gender agenda". Financial Review. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  6. "Taste Creative". tastecreative.com. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  7. 15 Amore, retrieved 25 October 2018
  8. "Our History - Bus Stop Films". Bus Stop Films. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  9. "Genevieve Clay-Smith – AMP's Tomorrow Fund". www.ampstomorrowfund.com.au. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  10. "Arts & Culture Advisory Committee - Create NSW". Create NSW. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  11. "Rétrospective "Le cinéma de Geneviève Clay-Smith" – Vendredi 10/11 à 17h15". The Extraordinary Film Festival (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  12. "Embracing difference, 'Shakespeare in Tokyo' is the picture of inclusion | The Japan Times". The Japan Times. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  13. "KEYNOTE Everyone on the Bus: The Power of Inclusive Filmmaking". TIFF. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  14. Day, Bek. "I want kids to know that being different is something beautiful". www.kidspot.com.au. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  15. "Australia's 100 Women of Influence 2014". Financial Review. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  16. GREGORY, HELEN (10 November 2014). "Genevieve rises to the occasion". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  17. "Genevieve Clay-Smith". Accessible Arts. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  18. ZUCHETTI, ADAM (10 November 2018). "My Business". www.mybusiness.com.au. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  19. "AFR's 11 most influential women revealed". Australian Financial Review. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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