Kim Smith
Independent Filmmaker
Other Roles: Director
Areas of Focus: Documentaries, Shorts
Biography
Kim Smith is a documentary filmmaker, wildlife conservationist, lecturer, photojournalist, author, illustrator, and an award-winning landscape designer creating butterfly and songbird habitats.
Kim is currently in the post-production and fundraising phase of her new documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2023.
Her most recent film project, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly, is a narrated documentary that premiered in August 2020. Beauty on the Wing has received many honors and awards at environmental film festivals and children’s film festivals including Best Documentary at the Boston International Kids Festival, Best Feature Film at the Providence Children’s Film Festival, Best Documentary at the San Diego International Kid’s Film Festival, and Outstanding Excellence at both the Toronto International Film Festival and Nature Without Borders Documentary Film Festival.
One of the greatest hopes for Beauty on the Wing and The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is that both adults and young people find the films educational and inspirational. We are overjoyed Beauty on the Wing is finding its audience and hope so very much the same for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. We are currently working towards nationwide distribution to educational institutions for Beauty on the Wing.
In March 2020, Kim created a series of short films about the Snowy Owl: https://kimsmithdesigns.com/snowy-owl-film/
Kim was recently interviewed by the BBC and PBS for her work in documenting the Monarch Butterfly. She worked with the show’s producers in writing and creating the story, providing footage from Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly for the BBC produced show “Autumnwatch New England.”
In May of 2019, Kim was featured in Audubon Magazine for her work protecting and documenting Piping Plovers, “How Plover Chicks Born in a Parking Lot Spurred a City to Make Its Beach Safer.” Kim leads a group in safeguarding local populations of Piping Plovers.
In April 2018, Kim was honored to receive the Salem State University “Friend of the Earth Award” and to give the keynote address for the University’s Earth Day Weeks events program. In 2017 she was named an Essex National Heritage Trailblazer and became an Essex Heritage Commissioner in recognition of her work connecting people to place.
Her short films, A Flight of Monarchs, which was created for the Berkshire Museum, and BomBom Butterflies have won critical acclaim. Her 45-minute documentary, Life Story of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly, is an inspirational story that both teaches about butterfly life cycles and reveals the connection between pollinators, plants, and the importance of conserving habitats.
In conjunction with Cambridge Seven Associates architectural firm, Kim designed the award- winning Gloucester HarborWalk Butterfly gardens. She specializes in creating pollinator habitat gardens utilizing primarily North American native wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and vines. https://kimsmithdesigns.com/design-projects/.
Her book on landscape design, Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities!, which she both wrote and illustrated, was published by David R. Godine, Boston. https://kimsmithdesigns.com/oh- garden/
For more information on Kim’s films and design projects follow her on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo, and visit her design and film websites.
