Marc Smerling is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and director. He was nominated for an Oscar for '' Capturing the Friedmans'' in 2003, and co-wrote and produced '' The Jinx'', a six-part HBO documentary on suspected murderer Robert Durst. He directed the FX docuseries ''

A Wilderness of Error ''A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald'' is a book by Errol Morris, published in September 2012. It reexamines the case of Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret physician accused of killing his wife and two daughters in their home ...

'' based on the book of the same name.

Education

Smerling attended

S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic ...

at Syracuse University and has earned a Master of Arts degree in film production from

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Career

Early in his career, Smerling was the associate producer of NBC's ''Gangs, Cops and Drugs'' with

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

, and ''The New Hollywood''. He then founded production company Notorious Pictures, producing and directing more than a hundred television commercials and music videos. Smerling partnered up with Andrew Jarecki to form their own production company Hit the Ground Running. He produced 2003's '' Capturing the Friedmans'', which was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary and 2010's documentary film ''

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

'', which inspired the television series '' Catfish: The TV Show''. In 2010, Smerling produced and wrote his first narrative feature film '' All Good Things'', starring Ryan Gosling,

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the short ''Oedipus Wrecks'' directed by Woody Allen in the anthology film '' New York Stories'' (1989). She then gained recognition for her ro ...

and

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flor ...

, about the suspected murderer and real estate scion Robert Durst. The film was the predecessor to the 2015 HBO documentary miniseries '' The Jinx'', which Smerling co-wrote and produced with Andrew Jarecki and Zachary Stuart-Pontier. He won the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary Series and was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming. Smerling and Stuart-Pontier co-created the podcast ''

Crimetown ''Crimetown'' is a serial documentary podcast hosted by Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier and produced by Gimlet Media which looks at how organized crime has shaped particular American cities. The first season started in 2016 and focused on ...

'', which debuted in 2016 and quickly became the most popular U.S. podcast on iTunes. Each season of ''Crimetown'' examines how

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

shaped an American city, starting with

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, in season one. They also co-created ''The RFK Tapes'' a Crimetown Presents podcast about the

assassination of Robert F. Kennedy On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT the following day. Kennedy was a senator from New York and a candidate ...

. In 2022, he hosted a 15-part podcast series focused on the Mahoning Valley mafia and Congressman Jim Traficant called "Crooked City: Youngstown OH."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) People associated with true crime USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni American film producers {{US-film-producer-stub