Misha Manson-Smith

2004-2012

Manson-Smith started working professionally as an editor on documentaries for directors such as Greg Barker^[2] and James Miller.^[3] In 2004, Miller was shot and killed by the Israel Defense Forces while filming HBO documentary feature film Death In Gaza. Manson-Smith came on as editor and director to complete it,^[4][5][3] interweaving Miller’s own story with those of the children caught in the crossfire.^[6] It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival^[7] and won many accolades, among them three Emmy Awards, including Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Filmmaking.^[8] It also won a BAFTA Award^[9] and Manson-Smith was nominated for the BAFTA Award for editing.^[10]

Manson-Smith also started writing and directing fiction with short Nine and a Half Minutes.^[11] Produced by Ollie Madden and starring David Tennant, it premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.^[12]

Manson-Smith went on to develop and direct broadcast pilots including BAFTA-nominated^[13] Delta Forever (2008)^[14] starring Daniel Kaluuya and Ophelia Lovibond, Coming Up: Brussels (2009)^[15] starring Peter Capaldi and Stanley Park (2011)^[16] starring Holliday Grainger and Sharon Horgan.^[17]

In 2011, it was announced that Manson-Smith had been hired to direct the feature film Sex Education.^[18]

2012-present

In 2012, Manson-Smith directed single drama Excluded for BBC Two,^[19] starring Craig Parkinson, Monica Dolan and Juliet Cowan.^[20] Sam Wollaston wrote in the Guardian “It's all brilliant – immediate, tense, funny, sad, touching, relevant.”^[21]

In 2014, Manson-Smith created neo-noir action comedy In Deep (2014) with writers Thomas Eccleshare and Tom Joseph for BBC Three.^[22][23] Manson-Smith directed the pilot, casting Ashley Walters and Paul Kaye.

In 2015, Manson-Smith developed Hoff The Record, an improvised comedy about Craig Roberts directing a biopic of David Hasslehoff. Manson-Smith wrote and directed the pilot for BBC Two^[24] and wrote on the first season for Dave with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay.^[25] It won the International Emmy Award for Comedy Series.^[26]

In 2016-2019, Manson-Smith directed episodes of Paul Abbott’s No Offence,^[27][28] which was BAFTA nominated for Best Drama Series^[29] and won the RTS Award for Best Drama Series.^[30] Manson-Smith returned to direct action sequences on the second season and the final episodes of the third season^[31]

In 2017, Manson-Smith was lead director on the second season of Danny Brocklehurst’s Ordinary Lies,^[32] starring Con O’Neil, Rebekah Staton, Joel Fry and Kimberley Nixon, who won the Best Actress BAFTA Cymru Award.^[33]

In 2018, Manson-Smith was the lead director on cyber-thriller Kiss Me First for Netflix and Channel 4.^[34] Adapted by Bryan Elsley from Lottie Moggach’s novel, the series combined live action drama with motion capture animation,^[35] winning an RTS Award.^[36] Among many unusual aspects of the production,^[37] Manson-Smith used the actual lenses made for Apocalypse Now.^[38]

In 2019, Manson-Smith directed David Thewlis, Michelle Fairley and Guy Burnet in episodes (and additional action sequences) of sci-fi thriller series The Feed for Amazon Studios.^[39] It was selected for the Cannes Series and Tallinn Black Nights Festivals.^[40][41] In 2020 it was nominated for Best Drama Series at the National Film Awards.^[42]

In 2025, Manson-Smith directed the second season of The Jury: Murder Trial^[43] for Channel 4, a hybrid courtroom drama / social experiment that in its first season won the 2025 BAFTA TV Award,^[44] Broadcast Award^[45] and was nominated for the RTS Award.^[46] The second season was nominated in the 2026 BAFTA TV Awards^[47], nominated in the RTS Programme^[48] and RTS Craft Awards^[49], nominated in the Grierson Awards^[50] and Edinburgh TV Awards^[51] and won the Rose d'Or^[52].

In 2026, Manson-Smith directed the third and fourth seasons of The Jury: Murder Trial.^[53]

Collaborators

Manson-Smith has developed several films with writer George Kay,^[54] with short Barbados becoming their first produced work. Starring Michael Sheen and produced by Fred Berger and Funny or Die,^[55] it was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival.^[56]

Manson-Smith frequently collaborates with actor Marc Wootton.^[57] My New Best Friend won the Rose D'Or^[58] and a British Comedy Award,^[59] with Guardian critic Barbara Ellen writing that it “transcends student TV and becomes a sociological document for the cut-throat nature of our times”.^[60] Manson-Smith and Wootton reteamed on controversial BBC psychic satire High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman, earning Manson-Smith a BAFTA nomination.^[61]

Manson-Smith and Wootton relocated to Los Angeles to create entertainment industry satire La La Land for Showtime.^[62][63][64] Notable for its casting of cult figures^[65][66] including Tommy Wiseau and Daryl Hannah,^[67] it was nominated for the Rose D’Or and received positive reviews,^[68][69] with Heather Havrilesky writing in Salon that La La Land "may be the single funniest thing I've seen on TV in the past year.”^[70]

In 2019, it was announced that Manson-Smith and Wootton were to team with Sacha Baron Cohen and his production company Four by Two Films on Gooseberry "an audacious collision of comic thriller and immersive theatre".^[71] Manson-Smith shot the pilot with Lionsgate for Comedy Central in Los Angeles in 2020,^[72] but the series was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2025, Manson-Smith and Wootton collaborated with singer-songwriter John Grant on the release of short film The Art of the Lie, with Shots Magazine writing "What began as a music video for Grant’s track It’s A Bitch quickly spiralled into something far more ambitious: a metafictional satire... held together by Wootton's unwavering performance... this 30-minute gem is chock-full of laughs"^[73]

Commercials

Manson-Smith has written and directed numerous commercials^[74] described variously as "beautifully observed" "remarkably authentic" and "perfectly deadpan".^[75][76] His "brilliantly conceived"^[77] campaign for Google starring Nick Mohammed, Olly Alexander and Jessica Barden was selected for the APA’s top 50.^[78] In 2023, he directed commercials for Swarovski starring Aimee Lou Wood^[79] and 2026 commericals for KFC.