JonoSmith
- Cinematographer
- Actor
Jono Smith was 14 when he won a starring role as teenager Ned Poindexter in 1950s era coming of age movie The Scarecrow. After leaving school, Smith joined TVNZ and became a camera assistant. Since relocating to England in 1993 he has shot a raft of television projects, short films, and seven features, and worked in more than 40 countries. In 2017 he directed his first feature, road movie Pylon.
Screenography
Biography
Jono Smith took an unusual path to becoming a cameraman; he began his career as a teenage actor, starring in the first Kiwi feature to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival.
At age 14, Smith had been picked by director Sam Pillsbury to act in The Scarecrow, based on the novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Smith played Ned, the adventurous small towner who suspects the new arrival in town (played by American acting legend John Carradine) might be dangerous. The Scarecrow cast would later win an ensemble award for their acting at an Italian mystery film festival, Mystfest.
Awards
2007 Tabloid Witch Awards (United States)
Best Cinematography: for Night of the Hell Hamsters
1982 Mystfest (Italian Mystery Film Festival)
Best Artistic Contribution (Ensemble acting award): the cast of The Scarecrow
“Every so often you are operating the camera, and at that moment everything comes together — the directing, script, design, acting, plus your part: the lighting and photography. You're inside the film capturing gold.”