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The Power of Reach
So much of ARTHUR SMITH’s success in life can be attributed to the “power of reach” – the idea that we only achieve our full potential when we reach beyond what we think are our capabilities or limits. In this motivational and informative talk, Smith shares valuable life lessons and career changing tips through relatable and entertaining examples of the “power of reach.”
Drawn from his decades-long career in sports and entertainment, Smith’s remarks feature famous names like NBA legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, global superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, world-renowned chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay, television icon Dick Clark, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Academy Award-winner Marlon Brando. Smith takes the audience behind the scenes of major sporting events like the Olympic Games and some of the biggest hit series on television, including Hell’s Kitchen and American Ninja Warrior. This inspirational talk can be tailored to wide variety of audiences.
From the Olympics to Hell's Kitchen
Award-winning pioneer in nonfiction TV ARTHUR SMITH has produced more than 200 shows for more than 50 broadcast, cable, and streaming companies since he launched his production company in 2000. Before that, Smith oversaw numerous television networks and produced multiple Olympic Games broadcasts for television. To say he have seen it all and lived to tell about it in the non-fiction and sports television arena would be an understatement. In this talk, Smith throws off the cloak of secrecy for a behind-the-scenes exploration of how and why Hollywood decides what the viewing audience ultimately sees.
Forbes calls hit TV producer Arthur Smith’s book ‘REACH’ “an immediate must-read”
Pioneering hit TV producer ARTHUR SMITH motivates his audience with the message of his book, REACH: Hard Lessons and Learned Truths from a Lifetime in Television, which Forbes called “an immediate must-read.” Renowned as one of the most daring, creative, and influential minds in nonfiction television, Smith draws on the most exciting moments of his career to show how far you can go when you reach for your dreams. Smith is the man behind some of the longest-running unscripted series in television history. His groundbreaking hit Hell's Kitchen forged the modern food competition reality genre, while his Emmy-nominated American Ninja Warrior has spawned a cultural movement, with Ninja-inspired gyms in every major American city.
In Reach as well as in his motivational talks, Smith shares adventures, triumphs, and hard-won lessons from his astonishing career, taking his audience behind-the-scenes of dozens of pivotal moments in sports and television history, ranging from the high-intensity control room at the Olympics to the development of The Titan Games with Dwayne ("The Rock") Johnson. So much of Smith’s success in life can be attributed to the “power of reach” – the idea that we only achieve our full potential when we reach beyond what we think are our capabilities or limits. He shares this empowering message in highly-customizable talks for any audience.
Read Arthur Smith’s book review in Forbes >>
Arthur Smith has been a hands-on, trendsetting producer in the unscripted television space, creating innovative, larger-than-life formats at A. Smith & Co. Productions, for two decades and counting. He is a pioneer in nonfiction television, and since founding A. Smith & Co. in 2000, Smith has created some of the longest-running, culture-shaping unscripted series in television history. He was honored as one of Variety’s “Titans of Unscripted TV” in 2022, inducted into the Realscreen Awards Hall of Fame in 2021, awarded Broadcasting & Cable’s “Producer of the Year” in 2020, and is the recipient of dozens of industry awards.
With more than 200 shows for over 50 networks, under Smith’s leadership, A. Smith & Co. essentially forged the modern food competition reality genre in the United States with the launch of FOX’s longest-running reality show Hell’s Kitchen, which has since spawned numerous projects starring Chef Gordon Ramsay. Smith’s flagship summer primetime show, American Ninja Warrior, now in its 15th season on NBC has garnered 7 Primetime Emmy® Award nominations.
On top of elite titles like Hell’s Kitchen and American Ninja Warrior, are Smith’s earlier genre-spanning successes including, Kitchen Nightmares, The Titan Games With Dwayne Johnson, Trading Spaces, Pros vs. Joes, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, The Swan, and Paradise Hotel, to name just a few. Among the eclectic array of current A. Smith & Co. series are The Floor is Lava, Mental Samurai, Welcome to Plathville, American Ninja Warrior Junior, Unsung, American Gangster: Trap Queens, and the NFL’s Pro Bowl Games.
Smith also serves as Chairman of Tinopolis Group U.S., a leading TV production and distribution group. In this role, Smith also oversees the unscripted powerhouse Magical Elves, the Emmy Award®-winning producer of uplifting unscripted series such as Top Chef, Nailed It!, Sugar Rush and more.
Smith’s life-long journey in entertainment began as a teenager, when he acted in sitcoms and feature films in Canada. He attended Ryerson University where he distinguished himself with multiple student awards and scholarships. Smith embarked on his career as a television producer as a 22-two-year-old wunderkind, talking his way into sports production at CBC in his native Canada. He quickly distinguished himself as a rising star at the network, where he produced three Olympic Games among countless other high-profile events. At the age of 28, Smith was named the youngest-ever head of CBC Sports. His successful run at the network ended when American broadcasting icon Dick Clark lured him to Hollywood to develop and produce a wide variety of entertainment programming. Then FOX anointed him the head of programming and production at FOX Sports Net, where Smith played an instrumental role in the launch and growth of this massive entity, before the biggest reach of his life—the creation of his eponymous production company that has since thrived for more than twenty years and counting.
Throughout Smith’s prodigious body of work, spanning upwards of tens of thousands of hours, he has consistently earned acclaim for his unparalleled commitment to infusing each piece with heart, ensuring that every Arthur Smith production is one that the audience doesn’t just see, but one that they feel on an emotional level. In his recently launched book, REACH: Hard Lessons and Learned Truths from a Lifetime in Television, Smith illustrates just how far you can go when you work hard, take risks, and reach for your dreams. All of his proceeds from the book go to the REACH Foundation which donates money to a number of charities who lift people up in some way so they can “reach” in their own lives.
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