Chris Smith

Artist, Brainstormer, Concerned citizen, Connector, Designer, Explorer, Filmmaker, Idea generator, Photographer, Producer, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Recently I have moved from a commercial role to an NGO role, with the years of work and experience now being focused on helping to create influence and impact in our work to tackle the problem of plastic waste in our environment. As the Alliance's chief storyteller, I work to bring the power of storytelling to a very complicated problem, a world where plastics has such positive impact to our daily lives, but as waste in the environment it is both harmful, and needless. As a filmmaker and photographer, the shift from commercial to NGO-focused work has definitely provided me with a very different world view, and is daily influencing my craft. I am an experienced business leader now working in Asia, with a track record of building, growing and innovating within the media, entertainment and content industries. I have worked with companies including Facebook, Google, Singapore Airlines, Yahoo, ANA, Unilever, SK-II, Apple, Quiksilver, LEGO, Diageo and adidas to name a few. I have built in-house capabilities in creative, social and production as well as worked as a producer in feature film, episodic, and branded content across SEA, China, US, and UK. I believe that powerful innovation and influence comes from the combination of creativity, technology, and story telling. We live in a world of stories and systems – stories that motivate us to act, to feel, to think, and systems that provide us an ecosystem for those actions. It’s a powerful combination, allowing us to shift discussions from product features to customer experiences, from brand first to people first, and from “on at 8:00 to anytime, everywhere.”