{{Short description|American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and director}} [[File:Crimetown Live (90167) (cropped).jpg|thumb]] '''Marc Smerling''' is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and director.{{citation needed|date=January 2026}} He was nominated for an Oscar for ''[[Capturing the Friedmans]]'' in 2003, and co-wrote and produced ''[[The Jinx (miniseries)|The Jinx]]'', a six-part [[HBO]] documentary on suspected murderer [[Robert Durst]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/16/jinx-creators-cancel-interviews-release-statement-robert-durst-case-4 |title='The Jinx' creators cancel interviews, release statement &#124; EW.com |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=2015-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318190609/http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/16/jinx-creators-cancel-interviews-release-statement-robert-durst-case-4 |archive-date=2015-03-18 |url-status=live }}</ref> He directed the [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] docuseries ''[[A Wilderness of Error (TV series)|A Wilderness of Error]]'' based on the [[A Wilderness of Error|book of the same name]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=N'Duka|first=Amanda|date=2020-04-24|title=Emmy Winner, 'All Good Things' Writer-Producer Marc Smerling Launches Truth Media|url=https://deadline.com/2020/04/all-good-things-marc-smerling-truth-media-1202917057/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508210415/https://deadline.com/2020/04/all-good-things-marc-smerling-truth-media-1202917057/|archive-date=2020-05-08|access-date=2020-07-22|website=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]|language=en}}</ref>

== Education == Smerling attended [[S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications]] at [[Syracuse University]] and has earned a Master of Arts degree in film production from [[University of Southern California]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kcrw.com/people/marc-smerling |title=Marc Smerling — KCRW |access-date=2015-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402204244/http://www.kcrw.com/people/marc-smerling |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Career==

Early in his career, Smerling was the associate producer of NBC's ''Gangs, Cops and Drugs'' with [[Tom Brokaw]], and ''The New Hollywood''. He then founded production company Notorious Pictures, producing and directing more than a hundred television commercials and music videos.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thejinxhbo.com/whos-who/ |title=Who's Who — THE JINX |access-date=2015-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417102434/http://www.thejinxhbo.com/whos-who/ |archive-date=2015-04-17 |url-status=live }}</ref>

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]] for Best Documentary and 2010's documentary film ''[[Catfish (film)|Catfish]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Longworth|first=Karina|title=Doc or Not, Catfish Is Stranger Than Fiction|date=December 1987 |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-15/film/doc-or-not-catfish-is-stranger-than-fiction/|publisher=The Village Voice|access-date=18 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116085745/http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-15/film/doc-or-not-catfish-is-stranger-than-fiction/|archive-date=16 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> which inspired the television series ''[[Catfish: The TV Show]]''.

In 2010, Smerling produced and wrote his first narrative feature film ''[[All Good Things (film)|All Good Things]]'', starring [[Ryan Gosling]], [[Kirsten Dunst]] and [[Frank Langella]], about the suspected murderer and real estate scion [[Robert Durst]]. The film was the predecessor to the 2015 HBO documentary miniseries ''[[The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst|The Jinx]]'', which Smerling co-wrote and produced with [[Andrew Jarecki]] and [[Zac Stuart-Pontier|Zachary Stuart-Pontier]].{{citation needed|date=January 2026}} He won the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary Series and was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/marc-smerling |title=Marc Smerling &#124; Television Academy |access-date=2015-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929070313/http://www.emmys.com/bios/marc-smerling |archive-date=2015-09-29 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Smerling and Stuart-Pontier co-created the podcast ''[[Crimetown]]'', which debuted in 2016 and quickly became the most popular U.S. podcast on [[iTunes]]. Each season of ''Crimetown'' examines how [[organized crime]] shaped an American city, starting with [[Providence, Rhode Island]], in season one.<ref name=ringer>{{cite web|work=The Ringer|last=Ducker|first=Eric|title=Not-So-Divine Providence|url=https://theringer.com/crimetown-podcast-marc-smerling-zac-stuart-pontier-6c5ba7a7f949|date=13 December 2016}}</ref> They also co-created ''The RFK Tapes'' a Crimetown Presents podcast about the [[assassination of Robert F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-20|title=Marc Smerling, Zac Stuart-Pontier, and the Expanding Web of Crimetown|url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/crimetown|access-date=2020-10-18|website=Interview Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2022, he hosted a 15-part podcast series focused on the Mahoning Valley mafia and Congressman [[Jim Traficant]] called "Crooked City: Youngstown OH."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crooked-city-youngstown-oh/id1633245610 | title=Crooked City: Youngstown, OH on Apple Podcasts | date=7 November 2022 }}</ref>

==Filmography==

=== Film === {| class="wikitable" ! width="33" |Year !Title !Producer !Writer |- | 2003 |''[[Capturing the Friedmans]]'' | {{yes}} | {{no}} |- | 2010 |''[[All Good Things (film)|All Good Things]]'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2010 |''[[Catfish (film)|Catfish]]'' | {{yes}} | {{no}} |- |}

=== Television === {| class="wikitable" ! width="33" |Year !Title !Director !Producer !Writer !Cinematographer |- | 2013 |''[[Catfish: The TV Show]]'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} |- | 2015 |''[[The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst]]'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- |2020 |''[[A Wilderness of Error (TV series)|A Wilderness of Error]]'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} |- |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0806830}}

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