Jonathan Turner Smith Headshot (dragged)

Jonathan Turner Smith

I recently retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District as a high school English/theatre teacher. I loved teaching and won several awards during my career. I was named the Texas Classroom Teacher Association Representative of the Year and was a Finalist for “You’re the Best Teacher” Award. I was also twice nominated for Teacher of the Year for the Los Angeles Unified School District and was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in American High Schools.

Now, however, I have decided to continue where I left off 36 years ago and pursue my love of acting, writing, and producing.

As part of my Master of Arts Degree, I wrote a one-act play, The Losers’ Club, that has been published by Eldridge Publishing and has been produced over 100 times by 60+ junior high and high schools from across the country.  Productions of the one-act play have garnered more than 15 area and state high school theatre awards. I have also written two other award-winning one-act plays, Aftermath and The Election, both also published by Eldridge Publishing. My full-length play, Whose High School Is It Anyway? Is published by Heartland Publishers.

I adapted The Losers’ Club into a screenplay, and it has been optioned as a major motion picture with a start date in 2024. The Screenplay has generated a great deal of enthusiasm and has been honored by more than 100 Screenplay and Film Festival Competitions from around the world.

 

In 1987, I co-wrote, produced, and essayed the lead role in an independent feature film, BROKEN VICTORY. The film won the Silver Medal at both the New York Film & Television Festival and the Houston International Film Festival. It was also a Finalist for an AFI/ Billboard Dramatic Video Award and the recipient of four (4) Halo Awards from the Southern California Motion Picture Council.

I also produced several original plays in Los Angeles, Night Strangers and Nathan for which I received a Los Angeles Drama-Logue Outstanding Performance Award and an Excellence in Media Award Nomination.

My faith-based feature length screenplay, Jeremy, has won 23 screenplay awards, and I have just completed a new faith-based screenplay, Our Finest Hour.

My horror screenplay, The Werewolf Chronicles, is still a work in progress.

Theatrical Resumé

Educational Resumé

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117 East Colorado Blvd.
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Pasadena, California 91105
626.415.6783