---
name: "John Smithson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-smithson"
fi1m_id: "john-smithson"
imdb_id: "nm0810478"
tmdb_id: 68542
wikidata_id: "Q6258406"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "1 January 1950"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-02T23:01:10.795805+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Smithson

## Identity

John Smithson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-smithson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-smithson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0810478
- **TMDB ID:** 68542
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6258406
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smithson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6258406, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0810478/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/68542

Producer. Born 1 January 1950.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 1 January 1950
- **Active:** 2003–2015
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as producer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 87 (1), 2010s 82 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 83 to 78 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Adventure 2, Documentary 2, Drama 2, Action 1, Sport 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $50m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smithson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6258406, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0810478/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/68542

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*Touching the Void*](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void.md) (87)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*127 Hours*](https://film.one/film/127-hours.md) (81)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

John Smithson is a British film and television producer based in London. He began his career in radio as a reporter for Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and as a current affairs producer for BBC Radio 4, before moving into television as a researcher on Granada's World in Action and a producer on BBC's Rough Justice.

In 1988 he co-founded Darlow Smithson Productions, which he led until its acquisitions by IMG in 2006 and Endemol in 2009. He later co-founded Arrow Media in 2011 and founded Smithson Media in 2025. Smithson produced the BAFTA-winning documentary *Touching the Void* (2003) and originated and produced the Oscar-nominated feature *127 Hours* (2010). Other notable credits include *Deep Water* (2006) and the BAFTA-nominated *Sherpa* (2015).

He has received BAFTA, Emmy, Peabody and Grierson awards for his work in non-scripted film and television.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Sherpa* (2015), Fi1m 82, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/sherpa.md)
- *127 Hours* (2010), Fi1m 81, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/127-hours.md)
- *Touching the Void* (2003), Fi1m 87, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Cecil* (2026), Producer
- *Positive* (2021), series, Creative Director
- *River* (2021), Producer
- *A Year Of British Murder* (2019), Executive Producer
- *Man Made Planet: Earth from Space* (2017), Creative Director
- *Jungle Shark* (2016), Director
- *Sherpa* (2015), Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/sherpa.md)
- *Bletchley Park: Code-breaking's Forgotten Genius* (2015), Director
- *Mayday: The Passenger Who Landed a Plane* (2014), Executive Producer
- *Stephen Hawking's Grand Design* (2012), series, Executive Producer
- *127 Hours* (2010), Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/127-hours.md)
- *Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking* (2010), series, Executive Producer
- *U Be Dead* (2009), Executive Producer
- *The Beckoning Silence* (2007), Executive Producer
- *Deep Water* (2006), Producer
- *9/11: The Falling Man* (2006), Executive Producer
- *I Shouldn't Be Alive* (2005), series, Executive Producer
- *The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart* (2005), Executive Producer
- *Touching the Void* (2003), Producer — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void.md)
- *The Affair* (1995), Producer
- *Children of God* (1994), Director
- *Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster* (1992), Producer

## Gallery

- ![John Smithson](https://film.one/media/person/98316/gallery-9304f7ec6452.jpg) John Smithson — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/John_Smithson_%288280947337%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010](https://film.one/media/person/98316/gallery-a7bacc1b43f4.jpg) John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/John_Dower_2010.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010](https://film.one/media/person/98316/gallery-cabf71af87c8.jpg) John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%281%29.jpg/1280px-John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010](https://film.one/media/person/98316/gallery-332122f70ab5.jpg) John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%282%29.jpg/1280px-John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%282%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010](https://film.one/media/person/98316/gallery-2ddfb6c0132c.jpg) John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%283%29.jpg/1280px-John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%283%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010](https://film.one/media/person/98316/gallery-c463693bd54c.jpg) John Smithson, John Dower, and Fred Young, 69th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel New York, NY USA May 17, 2010 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%284%29.jpg/1280px-John_Smithson%2C_John_Dower%2C_and_Fred_Young%2C_May_2010_%284%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2011: Best Picture (nominated), for *127 Hours*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-smithson