William Paul Smith is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation/ Eastern Shoshone independent writer/ filmmaker/ video artist/ poet. In 2008, he graduated with a BFA in Screenwriting/ Directing from the renowned School of Visual Arts (NY). He attended attended Columbia University’s MFA Film Directing Program and received an MFA in Creative Writing- Critical Studies from California Institute of the Arts.In his work, William Paul Smith deals with subjects of his culture and identity, gender and sexuality, violence and spirituality. His work is a form of interdisciplinary hybridity, narrative/documentary short/feature film productions. In 2018 William was a finalist for the the Shore Scripts short story competition and his script "Headlights on White Roses" won the WeDiversity shorts screenplay competition. He is currently in development with this new project. He has written and directed short films “La Rose Bleue”, “Where Frogs Grow”, “Womb” and is working on a series of “White Room Experimentals”, a series of 22 video installations. In 2011, He wrote and directed the feature documentary, “Labor of Life” and is in post production with the feature length cinematic poem “Izhar’s Ghost”, portraying artist Izhar Patkin and his 2014 retrospect “The Wandering Veil” at MASS MoCA.He works as a freelance writer for MetroSource Magazine and Movie Maker Magazine and is a professor/ Teaching Fellow at California Institute of the Arts, Critical Studies Department, and is the President of WATER: An art collective centering Native American scholarship, identity, art & activism based at California Institute of the Arts. Experienced Independent Filmmaker with a demonstrated history of working in the motion pictures and film industry. Skilled in Music Videos, Film, Documentaries, Editing, and Film Production. Strong operations professional with a Critical Studies- Creative Writing from California Institute of the Arts