John Smithson

Smithson began his career as a reporter for Manchester's Piccadilly Radio before joining BBC Radio 4 as a current affairs producer. He then entered the television industry, spending five years as a researcher on Granada’s World in Action, followed by two years producing Rough Justice for BBC TV.

He co-founded Darlow Smithson Productions in 1988 and led its growth into one of the world’s foremost non-fiction producers and a trailblazer for UK expansion into the US factual market, producing over 100 hours of high-quality programmes every year for world-leading broadcasters, including Discovery, C4, BBC, and National Geographic.^[3]

Smithson acquired full control of Darlow Smithson Productions in June 2002, buying out co-founder David Darlow’s 50% stake.^[4] The company was acquired by sports and media giant IMG in 2006 and later by Endemol in 2009.^[5]

In 2011, Smithson co-founded Arrow Media, one of the UK’s fastest-growing production companies, which rapidly became a creative powerhouse delivering more than 100 hours of world-class TV to the UK, US and international markets each year.^[6] In 2023, Arrow Media was acquired by French media group Asacha, which has since become part of Fremantle (company).^[7]

Since his departure from Arrow Media, Smithson worked independently before founding his own production company, Smithson Media, in 2025 to focus on a slate of ambitious projects, while acting as a key creative and strategic advisor in content creation and management.

• Touching the Void — 2003 (Producer)
• Deep Water — 2006 (Producer)
• 9/11: The Falling Man — 2006 (Executive Producer)
• Thrilla in Manila — 2008 (Executive Producer)
• 127 Hours — 2010 (Producer)
• Sherpa — 2015 (Producer)