PAISLEY SMITH is a film director and writer known for creating imaginative, artistic films with impact. 

UNCEDED TERRITORIES (co-created with Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun) premiered at Tribeca Immersive 2019, and received a nomination for Best Immersive Experience at the Canadian Screen Awards (2023). Unceded Territories was created with the support of the Sundance Institute, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and Creative B.C. 

HOMESTAY (Co-created with the NFB Digital Studio) premiered at IDFA DocLab (2016) and was awarded Best XR for Change at Games for Change Festival (2019). Paisley's immersive films have screened at festivals including Slamdance DIG, Vancouver International Film Festival, Open City Documentary Festival, IndieCade, Festival Internacional Cervantino, and exhibited at museums and galleries internationally including The Surrey Art Gallery and the American Museum of Natural History. 

Paisley has dedicated over 10 years to emerging technology as a producer, director, and community builder. She produced award-winning projects including: Project Syria (Emblematic Group), Tempest (Tender Claws), Cardboard Crash (NFB). She has built incredible creator communities from Sundance New Frontier Story Lab to Women in AR/VR to the Unity for Humanity community.

Recently, Paisley made the decision to 'put down the headset' and return to her true passion for traditional filmmaking. 

Worldbuilding, handmade art and craft, and whimsy inform her cinematic language. Paisley believes imagination is power, and makes films that encourage conversation, self-reflection, and community connection.

Paisley received an MFA in Television and Film Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts (2015). She is a Senior Civic Media Fellow at the USC Annenberg  Innovation Lab. 

She lives and works on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish First Nations. 

For inquiries please contact: hello@paisleysmith.com