Shane Smith (journalist)

Shane Smith

Shane Smith at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2014
Born (1969-09-28) September 28, 1969
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Residence Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Nationality Canadian
Alma mater Lisgar Collegiate Institute
Carleton University
Occupation Journalist, entrepreneur
Known for VICE co-founder
Net worth Increase USD $1.27 billion (2015)[1]
Spouse(s) Tamyka
Children 2

Shane Smith is a Canadian Emmy Award-winning journalist and web entrepreneur.[2] He is the co-founder and CEO of the international media company VICE Media, operating an international network of digital channels, a television production studio, a record label, an in-house creative services agency, a book-publishing house, and a feature film division.

Early life and education

Shane Smith was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1969. He attended the Lisgar Collegiate Institute and later graduated from Carleton University with a degree in English literature and political science.[3]

Before Vice, Smith went to university in Ottawa, played in local punk bands, and traveled Eastern Europe before moving to Montreal.[4][5]

Career

Founding VICE

Smith co-founded VICE along with Suroosh Alvi and Gavin McInnes as the youth magazine Voice of Montreal in 1994. After being acquired in 1999, Smith and his co-founders bought VICE back, and moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2001. Initially publishing print articles based on offbeat alternative culture, VICE moved to creating news content and social criticism on multiple media platforms in the mid-2000s. Smith remains an owner of the company, and The New York Times has described Smith as "a cross between a punk rocker and Fortune 500 Executive".[2]

VICE CEO

In 2006, on the advice from the company’s creative director Spike Jonze, VICE Media began expanding into digital video. This led to a massive expansion of VICE into new channels, including a partnership with Intel in 2010 for The Creators Project, as well as deals with partners like Viacom, YouTube[6] and HBO, led by Smith.

In April 2013, VICE started a new series with HBO, VICE, where Smith and other VICE correspondents cover news stories from around the globe. The show's second season won an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series or Special.[7] The show was picked up for two more 14-episode seasons by HBO in May 2014, which will air in 2015 and 2016.[8] Based on the success of the weekly show, in 2015 HBO and VICE announced an expanded deal that includes a daily news show on HBO Now premiering in 2016, 32 VICE-produced specials over four years, and expanding the existing show from 14 to 35 episodes a year.

2015 saw a slate of new deals for VICE, including partnerships with Verizon,[9] Rogers Communications, Live Nation, Spotify and Snapchat, where VICE was a launch partner for Snapchat's “Discover” platform.[10]

In June 2014, it was reported that Time Warner was negotiating to acquire a minority stake in VICE Media; among the company's plans were to give Vice Media control over the programming of HLN—a spin-off network of CNN which had recently struggled in its attempts to re-focus itself as a younger-skewing, social media-oriented news service. However, the deal fell through as the companies were unable to agree on a proper valuation, and VICE Media partnered with A&E Networks for a 10% minority stake in VICE Media for $250 million, keeping VICE Media independent.[11] The following April, it was announced that A+E's H2 will be rebranded as VICELAND,[12] a lifestyle channel aimed at millennials. VICELAND will launch February 29. Disney added to its indirect stake through A&E with two $200 million investments in November 2015 then a week later in December for a roughly 10% stake to assist in funding programming and growth.[13]

Smith, in interviews, has mentioned the possibility of VICE going public, saying in a 2015 interview: “There hasn’t been a media company like this to go public in 15 years…the markets would love it.” [14]

Journalism

As a journalist Smith has traveled to locations such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Liberia, and Greenland, initially for the 2006 online TV series VICE Guide to Travel.[2] Smith has continued to serve as a correspondent for VICE, appearing in online content as well as the host of VICE’s HBO show and VICE Special Reports.

In 2015, Shane Smith accompanied US President Barack Obama as part of the president's first historic visit to a federal prison,[15] interviewing the President along with five non-violent drug offenders at El Reno Prison. He also conducted the first public interview with the Eagles of Death Metal following the 2015 terrorist shooting at their show at the Bataclan in Paris, France that left 89 dead.[16]

Personal life

Smith currently resides in Santa Monica, California with his wife, Tamyka, and his two daughters Martina and Piper, in a renovated mansion he bought for $23 million.[17] Canadian Business placed him on "Canada's Richest People" in 2015, claiming his net worth to be at $1.27 billion.[1]

Filmography

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Awards

Smith’s work on VICE’s HBO show won him an Emmy in 2014, as well as a number of environmental awards for his work covering global warming in Greenland, Antarctica and beyond. He has also been honored with a Frank Stanton Award for Excellence in Communication,[19] and an LA Press Club Award,[20] and two Peabody awards [21] for serving as executive producer of VICE News' documentaries The Islamic State and Last Chance High.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Canada's Richest People: Shane Smith". 24 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Alex Williams (16 August 2010). "A Wild Man Grows Up (Just Enough)". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Shane Smith Bio". Hbo.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Garrahan, M. (2012) "Lunch with the FT: Shane Smith ". Financial Times. Retrieved on July 13, 2016 from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/61c51d64-4a9c-11e2-968a-00144feab49a.html#axzz2WpBWWpDf
  5. ↑ Goldman, A. (2016) "L. A. Vice: Inside Media Mogul Shane Smith’s Santa Monica Estate" http://www.wsj.com/articles/l-a-vice-inside-media-mogul-shane-smiths-santa-monica-estate-1473165901
  6. ↑ Erin Griffith. "Why YouTube is spending mega ad dollars to promote Vice News". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "VICE Earns Its First Emmy". Hbo.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  8. ↑ The Deadline Team. "'Vice' Renewed: HBO Orders Seasons 3 & 4 - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Emily Steel. "Verizon to Add Vice Content to Its Coming Mobile Video Service". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Natalie Jarvey. "Snapchat Launches Discover With CNN, ESPN, Vice and More". Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Time Warner Ends Negotiations to Buy Stake in Vice Media". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Paul Bond. "A&E Networks Buying Minority Stake in Vice Media". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Sydney Ember. "Disney Invests $200 Million More in Vice Media to Support New Programming". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Matthew Garrahan. "Vice goes to Cuba". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Michael Calderone. "Vice Went To Prison With Obama. Now It's Going Deep Into Inmate Issues". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  16. ↑ VICE Staff. "Eagles of Death Metal Discuss Paris Terror Attacks". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "L.A. Vice: Inside Media Mogul Shane Smith’s Santa Monica Estate" (2016) http://www.wsj.com/articles/l-a-vice-inside-media-mogul-shane-smiths-santa-monica-estate-1473165901
  18. ↑ "Shane Smith". IMDb. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Frank Stanton Award". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "Shane Smith and Vice to Receive Los Angeles Press Club's 2015 Public Service Award In Journalism". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  21. ↑ Jason Mojica. "VICE News Wins Two Peabody Awards". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "VICE'S Shane Smith Named Media Person of the Year". VICE’S SHANE SMITH NAMED MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR. Cannes Lions. March 21, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  23. ↑ Kamenetz, Anya. "Most Innovative Companies - Media". Mansueto Ventures, LLC. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  24. ↑ Dumenco, Simon. "Vice Is No. 9 on Ad Age's Magazine A-List". Advertising Age. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  25. ↑ Dumenco, Simon; Toure, Malika. "Ad Age's Magazine A-List: Vice Media is Publishing Company of the Year". Advertising Age. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  26. ↑ Harrison, Lily. "014 Environmental Media Association Awards: Nominees for the EMA Digital Video Award Announced!". E! Entertainment Television, LLC. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  27. ↑ "Vice". Television Academy. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  28. ↑ Bazilian, Emma. "How Shane Smith Built Vice Into a $2.5 Billion Empire 2014 Brand Genius winner for media". Adweek. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  29. ↑ "Vice Media's Shane Smith to receive Knight Innovation Award on Dec. 1 at CUNY media innovation summit". John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  30. 1 2 "VICE News Wins Two Peabody Awards". VICE News. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  31. ↑ "2015 Environmental Media Association Award Nominations Announced—See the Complete List of Nominees". E!. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  32. ↑ Diaz, Ann-Christine. "Creativity 50 2015 All Stars: Shane Smith and Eddy Moretti". Advertising Age. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  33. ↑ "CENTER FOR COMMUNICATION HONORS SHANE SMITH, CO-FOUNDER & CEO OF VICE". Center For Communication. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  34. ↑ "CShane Smith and Vice to Receive Los Angeles Press Club's 2015 Public Service Award In Journalism". LA Press Club. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shane Smith.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.