CHAD ERIC SMITH

Chad Eric Smith, a native of Washington, DC, is an award-winning, creative, and innovative visionary and storyteller. With over 15 years of experience as a versatile character actor, Smith is a consummate performer, both on stage and on the big screen. Whether portraying a troubled young physicist (Fatherless), a vampire with a fear of blood (Dark Therapy), a justice-impacted man battling addiction (Counselor), or a Black nationalist and atheist in the political drama Four Points, Chad has earned praise for his range and commitment to thought-provoking stories. In theatre, he’s held leading and supporting roles in classic dramas, contemporary works, and musicals, including Raisin and I Gotcha! The Story of Joe Tex and the Soul Clan, for which he received multiple Onyx Awards from the African American Council on the Arts (AACTA).

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In 2017, Smith founded MisterDuke Productions, a film production company that creates political ads, PSAs, and genre-bending narrative works for screen and digital platforms. He wrote, directed, and produced the short vampire comedy, Dark Therapy, and short sci-fi drama, Rumination, which have screened at over 30 international festivals and earned numerous awards. In 2019, he was named Filmmaker of the Month by the DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music & Entertainment.

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From 2021 through 2025, Smith was the first man and first person of color to serve as the Senior Director of Communications and Brand Management for Mural Arts Philadelphia, a part-city, part-nonprofit agency and the nation’s largest public art program. There, he oversaw internal and external communications, branding, content creation, marketing, public relations, and events tied to as many as 125 public art projects annually, led a major rebranding effort, and served as the organization’s executive spokesperson.

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Currently, Smith serves as the inaugural Director of Marketing and Communications for Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, one of the nation’s premier institutions for visual arts, music, dance, and theatre. He also serves as Board President of Theatre Horizon, a professional theatre company in Norristown, PA, is a Leadership Philadelphia 2023 graduate, a founding member of the advisory committee for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. He enjoys playing the piano, learning about U.S. presidential history, and spending time with his wife and their seven-month-old son, Legend.

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