Misha Manson-Smith is a British director and screenwriter. He is known for directing high-end television dramas including The Feed, Kiss Me First and No Offence and for creating satirical comedy series with Marc Wootton that blur fiction and reality. He has been nominated for three BAFTAs including the Breakthrough Talent Award for Directing.
Career
2004-2012 Manson-Smith started working professionally as an editor on documentaries for directors such as Greg Barker and James Miller. In 2004, Miller was shot and killed by the Israel Defense Forces while filming HBO documentary feature film Death In Gaza. Manson-Smith came on as editor and director to complete it, interweaving Miller’s own story with those of the children caught in the crossfire. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and won many accolades, among them three Emmy Awards, including Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Filmmaking. It also won a BAFTA Award and Manson-Smith was nominated for the BAFTA Award for editing.
Manson-Smith also started writing and directing fiction with short Nine and a Half Minutes. Produced by Ollie Madden and starring David Tennant, it premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Manson-Smith went on to develop and direct broadcast pilots including BAFTA-nominated Delta Forever (2008) starring Daniel Kaluuya and Ophelia Lovibond, Coming Up: Brussels (2009) starring Peter Capaldi and Stanley Park (2011) starring Holliday Grainger and Sharon Horgan.
In 2011, it was announced that Manson-Smith had been hired to direct the feature film Sex Education.
2012-present In 2012, Manson-Smith directed single drama Excluded for BBC Two, starring Craig Parkinson, Monica Dolan and Juliet Cowan. Sam Wollaston wrote in the Guardian “It's all brilliant – immediate, tense, funny, sad, touching, relevant.”
In 2014, Manson-Smith created neo-noir action comedy In Deep (2014) with writers Thomas Eccleshare and Tom Joseph for BBC Three. Manson-Smith directed the pilot, casting Ashley Walters and Paul Kaye.
In 2015, Manson-Smith developed Hoff The Record, an improvised comedy about Craig Roberts directing a biopic of David Hasslehoff. Manson-Smith wrote and directed the pilot for BBC Two and wrote on the first season for Dave with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay. It won the International Emmy Award for Comedy Series.
In 2016-2019, Manson-Smith directed episodes of Paul Abbott’s No Offence, which was BAFTA nominated for Best Drama Series and won the RTS Award for Best Drama Series. Manson-Smith returned to direct action sequences on the second season and the final episodes of the third season
In 2017, Manson-Smith was lead director on the second season of Danny Brocklehurst’s Ordinary Lies, starring Con O’Neil, Rebekah Staton, Joel Fry and Kimberley Nixon, who won the Best Actress BAFTA Cymru Award.
In 2018, Manson-Smith was the lead director on cyber-thriller Kiss Me First for Netflix and Channel 4. Adapted by Bryan Elsley from Lottie Moggach’s novel, the series combined live action drama with motion capture animation, winning an RTS Award. Among many unusual aspects of the production, Manson-Smith used the actual lenses made for Apocalypse Now.
In 2019, Manson-Smith directed David Thewlis, Michelle Fairley and Guy Burnet in episodes (and additional action sequences) of sci-fi thriller series The Feed for Amazon Studios. It was selected for the Cannes Series and Tallinn Black Nights Festivals. In 2020 it was nominated for Best Drama Series at the National Film Awards.
In 2025, Manson-Smith directed the second season of The Jury: Murder Trial for Channel 4, a hybrid courtroom drama / social experiment that in its first season won the 2025 BAFTA TV Award, Broadcast Award and was nominated for the RTS Award. The second season was nominated in the 2026 BAFTA TV Awards, nominated in the RTS Programme and RTS Craft Awards, nominated in the Grierson Awards and Edinburgh TV Awards and won the Rose d'Or.
In 2026, Manson-Smith directed the third and fourth seasons of The Jury: Murder Trial.
Collaborators Manson-Smith has developed several films with writer George Kay, with short Barbados becoming their first produced work. Starring Michael Sheen and produced by Fred Berger and Funny or Die, it was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival.
Manson-Smith frequently collaborates with actor Marc Wootton. My New Best Friend won the Rose D'Or and a British Comedy Award, with Guardian critic Barbara Ellen writing that it “transcends student TV and becomes a sociological document for the cut-throat nature of our times”. Manson-Smith and Wootton reteamed on controversial BBC psychic satire High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman, earning Manson-Smith a BAFTA nomination.
Manson-Smith and Wootton relocated to Los Angeles to create entertainment industry satire La La Land for Showtime. Notable for its casting of cult figures including Tommy Wiseau and Daryl Hannah, it was nominated for the Rose D’Or and received positive reviews, with Heather Havrilesky writing in Salon that La La Land "may be the single funniest thing I've seen on TV in the past year.”
In 2019, it was announced that Manson-Smith and Wootton were to team with Sacha Baron Cohen and his production company Four by Two Films on Gooseberry "an audacious collision of comic thriller and immersive theatre". Manson-Smith shot the pilot with Lionsgate for Comedy Central in Los Angeles in 2020, but the series was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2025, Manson-Smith and Wootton collaborated with singer-songwriter John Grant on the release of short film The Art of the Lie, with Shots Magazine writing "What began as a music video for Grant’s track It’s A Bitch quickly spiralled into something far more ambitious: a metafictional satire... held together by Wootton's unwavering performance... this 30-minute gem is chock-full of laughs"
Commercials Manson-Smith has written and directed numerous commercials described variously as "beautifully observed" "remarkably authentic" and "perfectly deadpan". His "brilliantly conceived" campaign for Google starring Nick Mohammed, Olly Alexander and Jessica Barden was selected for the APA’s top 50. In 2023, he directed commercials for Swarovski starring Aimee Lou Wood and 2026 commericals for KFC.
Personal life Manson-Smith and his wife Alex Manson-Smith, a writer, live in London Fields with their two sons.
Filmography +YearTitleNetworkDirectorWriterEPNotes2004Nine and a Half MinutesBFIYesYesNoShort film2004Death in GazaHBOYesNoNoFeature documentary2004My New Best FriendChannel 4YesYesNo6 episodes2008Delta ForeverBBC ThreeYesYesNoPilot2008High Spirits with Shirley GhostmanBBC Three BBC AmericaYesYesNo8 episodes2008Coming Up: BrusselsChannel 4YesNoNoSingle drama2010La La LandShowtimeYesYesYes6 episodes2011Stanley ParkLionsgate BBC ThreeYesNoNoPilot2012ExcludedBBC TwoYesNoNoSingle drama2013Dancing on the EdgeBBC TwoYesNoNoUncredited2013Lucky CountryBBC TwoYesYesYesPilot2014PramfaceBBC ThreeYesNoNo6 episodes2014In DeepBBC ThreeYesNoYesPilot, co-creator2015Hoff The RecordBBC Two DaveYesYesNoPilot2016-2019No OffenceChannel 4YesNoNo4 episodes2017BarbadosFunny Or DieYesNoNoShort film2017Ordinary LiesBBC OneYesNoNo3 episodes2018Kiss Me FirstNetflix Channel 4YesNoNo3 episodes2019The FeedAmazon StudiosYesNoNo2 episodes2020GooseberryLionsgate Comedy CentralYesYesYesPilot, co-creator2025The Art of the LieCommon People FilmsYesYesNoShort film2025The Jury: Murder TrialChannel 4YesNoNo4 episodes2026The Jury: Murder TrialChannel 4YesNoNo8 episodes
Awards and nominations +YearAwardCategoryWorkResult2004Rose d'OrComedyMy New Best FriendWin2004British Comedy AwardBest New ComedyMy New Best FriendWin2005British Academy Television Craft AwardBest Editing: FactualDeath in GazaNomination2008British Academy Television Craft AwardBreakthrough Talent: FictionHigh Spirits with Shirley GhostmanNomination2009British Academy Scotland AwardComedyDelta ForeverNomination2011Rose D'OrComedyLa La LandNomination2013Shots AwardBranded CommercialGoogle Analytics in Real LifeWin2013Cannes LionCommercialGoogle Analytics in Real LifeNomination2013IVCACommercialGoogle Analytics in Real LifeWin2016New York FestivalsBest PerformanceClic Sargent: One of the GangWin2016Kinsale Shark AwardsEditingClic Sargent: One of the GangWin2018British ArrowsCraftKit Kat: Double ActWin2025Rose d'OrFactual Entertainment & RealityThe Jury: Murder TrialWin2026British Academy Television AwardRealityThe Jury: Murder TrialNomination2026Royal Television Society Programme AwardFormatted Popular FactualThe Jury: Murder TrialNomination2026Royal Television Society Craft & Design AwardMulticamera WorkThe Jury: Murder TrialNomination2026Edinburgh TV AwardPopular Factual SeriesThe Jury: Murder TrialNomination2026Grierson AwardConstructed DocumentaryThe Jury: Murder TrialLonglist
References
External links
Misha Manson-Smith at Curtis Brown Misha Manson-Smith website