Jonathan Turner Smith

Jonathan Turner Smith is a retired high school English/theatre teacher. During his tenure as an educator, he won several awards including the “Texas Classroom Teacher Association Representative of the Year” and was a Finalist for “You’re the Best Teacher” Award. Smith was also a LAUSD Teacher of the Year Nominee and listed in Who’s Who in American High Schools. As an actor and a member of SAFG/AFTRA, Smith has been cast in over 30 Vertical Dramas since 2022. He recently wrote his first Vertical Script, The Princess & The Poet. The script has won several awards, including being named a Finalist for both the LA Vertical Fest and The VertIGo Pitch Competition. Smith has recently been cast in the supporting role of “Isaac Pershing” in an independent SAG Feature Film shooting in October in Los Angeles. Jeremy is Smith’s Faith-based, feature film screenplay that has garnered over 20 awards from Screenplay Competitions and Film Festivals throughout the world. It most recently won the Silver Medal for Best Screenplay at the Knoxville Christian International Film Festival. It was also named Best Screenplay at the Branson International Film Festival, and as a result, it was acquired by Studio2.22Films and is currently in pre-production. Our Finest Hour, another Faith-based feature screenplay, has been acquired by Price Productions II. It is also in pre-production. As part of his Master of Arts Degree, Smith wrote a one-act play, The Losers’ Club. Published by Eldridge Publishing, the play has been produced over 100 times by 60 junior high and high schools from across the country and even Australia! Productions of the one-act play have garnered more than 15 area and state high school theatre awards. Due to the success of The Loser’s Club and understanding that the play had a strong fanbase, Smith adapted the play into a screenplay in 2020. The screenplay has been honored by more than 80 Screenplay Competitions and Film Festivals from around the world. The screenplay was optioned in 2020. Smith has written three other published plays: The Election and Aftermath, both published by Eldridge Publishing and Whose High School Is It Anyway, published by Heartland Publishing. Smith also co-produced, co-wrote and essayed the lead role in the independent feature film, Broken Victory. The film won the Silver Medal at both the New York Film & Television Festival and the Houston International Film Festival. It was also a Finalist for a Billboard Dramatic Video Award and the recipient of four (4) Halo Awards from the Southern California Motion Picture Council.