“WHAT’S NEW KIMANI?”
THE PAINTER - OFFICIAL TRAILER HAS DROPPED! CLICK ON THE POSTER TO WATCH!!!!!!
THE PAINTER
BREAKING NEWS: The Painter has a theatrical release date! Republic Pictures has acquired the Charlie Weber-Madison Bailey-Jon Voight action thriller The Painter from SP Media Group for Paramount Global Content Distribution Worldwide. - DEADLINE
A Jan. 5, 2024 theatrical release has been set.
Click on Photo for link to Deadline article…
THE PAINTER
Kimani Ray Smith has delivered his “Director’s Cut” to his action/thriller Feature Film entitled “THE PAINTER” for Paramount Plus. Executive Produced by Steven Paul (Ghost in the Shell) and produced by Scott Karol and Kyle Otto of SP Productions. Written by Comic Book writer Brian Buccellato (DC Comics - The Flash, Batman, Injustice). Headlining the Cast is Charlie Weber (How to get Away with Murder), Madison Bailey (The Outer Banks) and the legendary Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy). Will update progress and release dates moving forward, so revisit this page.
On Nov. 19th, 2022 Union of British Columbian Performers hosted the 11th annual UBCP/ACTRA Awards in Vancouver BC. Kimani Ray Smith was nominated for “The Best Stunt” category for his work Stunt Coordinating the blockbuster film “SNAKE EYES: G.I. Joe Origins” from Paramount Pictures. Although he didn’t win, Kimani enjoyed working on this project which brought him to shoot on location in Japan. Congrats to all the nominees and winner!
DEADLINE article on New Cast added to “GenZeroes” NFT Series. Click on image to see full article.
Kimani Ray Smith finished directing 4 episodes of the new NFT Tv Series “GenZeroes” for House of Kibaa. Click on photo for DEADLINE article…
Kimani Ray Smith set to direct the first live action NFT series, “GenZeroes”. Read the Deadline article by clicking the poster below…
EXCLUSIVE: Hawkeye and Van Helsing actor Aleks Paunovic is set to star in and executive-produce sci-fi NFT series GenZeroes.
The highly anticipated horror anthology “HORROR NOIRE” from AMC/Shudder airs October 28th, 2021. Kimani directed the episode “SUNDOWN” in Atlanta, Georgia where only six directors were chosen to helm the original Afrocentric horror series.
“At its best, Horror Noire confronts prejudice and xenophobic pasts (also presents) with an updated supernatural or thematic bend, as is cultural horror's proficiency. The segment "Sundown" very overtly manipulates the modern existence of Sundown Towns to mean something very different — or, at the least, as a cover for additional dangers.
I want to continue to single out "Sundown," written by Al Letson and directed by Kimani Ray Smith. Volunteers are canvassing the West Virginian suburb of Eventide to swing votes toward their Black senate hopeful. The town appears to be a rural snooze until a Black couple stumbles upon rusted Sundown Town signage. The community's leader Erebus (Peter Stormare) assures Shanita (Erica Ash) and Marcus (Tone Bell) the sign about Black citizens vacating after sundown is just an ugly blemish on Eventide's history — then we find out why locals only come out after dark. It's a poorly hidden secret that's still a clever remix on Sundown Town threats used by the only Black Eventide resident, Samuel (Lavell Crawford), as a warning against Erebus' nightly activities. Plus, there are some sharp lines between Marcus and Shanita as the former tries to find the good in white folk who then use the "n" word — a particular quip where she zings him, "Alright, go ahead Obama," stands out. So does the third act's turn into action-horror territory that's the most fun you'll have in Horror Noire.”
What to Watch – Matt Donato
“The best of the anthology is saved from the last. Entitled SUNDOWN, the action takes place once the sun goes down. A group of political canvassers, black and white for a black candidate descend on a small town, not knowing the reason no one is at home during the day. Come nightfall, the mayor invites the canvassers for the feast of the blood moon. The invitation is accepted. Who does not as there is free food? Besides all their vehicle tires are flat, punctured by the town folk. It turns out that the townsfolk are all vampires. The black couple of the group discover, to their dismay and horror, that they are the chosen ones (dark meat) to be eaten when the blood moon is high, akin to them being the turkey during Thanksgiving. This last story incorporates more humour that the other stories and it plays on the fact that this story is quite over-the-top.”
AfroToronto.com – Gilbert Seah
“The final segment, “Sundown,” is arguably the film’s most successful story, though it does take quite a while to get there. Horror Noire clocks in at about two and a half hours, and “Sundown” doesn’t start until just after the two-hour mark. It’s always a balancing act for anthology films to take enough time to develop a solid story with meaning while still keeping the pace of the overall movie more in line with a traditional film narrative. Many of the segments in Horror Noire rely on a relatively quiet setup with a big payoff at the end. That’s a perfectly fine approach, but a bit more action, especially in the segments towards the middle of the film, might have helped keep the pace up.
Directed by Kimani Ray Smith and written by Al Leston, “Sundown” is pure fun in a horror-comedy kind of way. A group of people canvassing a small West Virginian town for a Black senatorial candidate doesn’t have much luck, and their day gets worse when they discover they’re in what used to be a “sundown town.” The group, which includes a Black husband (Tone Bell) and wife (Erica Ash), soon finds out that the town’s history might not be completely in the past when the sunsets. “Sundown” is clever and funny, and it is a great way to end the entire film on a very strong note.”
Creepy Catalog – Chris Catt
Sundown
“This selection is laugh-out-loud and sharp as hell, taking its title, quite literally, into darkness. The “Whites Only” signs are the first (and most brilliant) clue in this short. This cast is perfect. Every single actor knocks it out of the park. The tongue-in-cheek way Sundown overkills tropes is *chef’s kiss. Genre fans are going to love this one. I would watch this one in expanded feature form in a hot minute. It’s delicious.”
Reel News Daily – Liz Whittmore
New BTS Featurette for G.I.Joe Origins: Snake Eyes “Preparing for Battle” In theatres July 23rd, 2021
The 2021 Leo Awards Nominations have been announced!
Kimani Ray Smith has been nominated for Best Direction in a Dramatic Series for his work on The CW series Two Sentence Horror Stories for the episode “Bag Man”. This is Kimani’s second nomination in this category, last year he was nominated for Direction on the SYFY series Van Helsing for the episode “Miles and Miles”.
Kimani has 21 Leo nominations over his career from Motion Picture and Web Series Producing, Direction in a Short Film, Stunt Coordination in a Motion Picture and Dramatic Series.
Kimani has won three Leo Awards for Stunt Coordination for his work on the film “Fist Fight” and the series “Continuum.”
CLICK HERE… to see Best Direction nomination.
Motherland: Fort Salem Season Two premier date announced! On June 22, 2021 the new season of Motherland: Fort Salem will air on FREEFORM and the next day on HULU. Kimani Ray Smith directed episode 8 written by Kay Reindl & Erin Maher. More to come…
Van Helsing Season 5 on SYFY is now airing! Kimani Ray Smith directed episode 505 “SisterHunt”. This was one of the first productions back after the Covid Lockdowns, shot on location in the beautiful Kamloops BC, Canada.
This was Kimani’s second episode for Van Helsing, his first was season 4’s “Miles and Miles”. Now on Netflix - Watch Promo Here
The highly anticipated feature film Snake Eyes: G.I.Joe Origins premieres on July 23rd, 2021 in theatres. Kimani Ray smith was the lead Stunt Coordinator for the Paramount Pictures franchise. Snake Eyes is directed by Robert Schwentke and stars Henry Golding. The film was shot on location in Vancouver, Canada - Tokyo, Japan and Los Angeles, USA.
Stage 13’s Two Sentence Horror Stories now on The CW and Netflix. Kimani Ray Smith had the pleasure to direct Two Episodes. The Season Two premiere episode “Bag Man” and the finale episode “Manifest Destiny”.
