Mr. Smith, a native Virginian, has been a communication instructor since 2011, joining VMI staff in 2017. At VMI, he teaches public speaking although at other institutions he has taught general communication studies, film aesthetics, and screenwriting. Following graduate school, he owned and operated Cardinal Point Productions, a concept to final product media company which produced an extraordinarily successful industrial film as well as several documentaries. One documentary he produced garnered numerous prestigious awards. Currently, Mr. Smith is advancing screenplay and graphic novel adaptations of Wallace Breem’s classic novel, Eagle in the Snow. Another screenplay, Once to Every Man, was a finalist in the VA Governor’s screenwriter’s competition. When not teaching, writing, or working to sell creative work, Mr. Smith continues to indulge in his favorite sport, serving as VMI Club Lacrosse’s faculty advisor and coach. But, most of all, Mr. Smith with his wife, Mattie, enjoy visiting his five sons and five daughters across the country, their spouses and their first grandchild.
Douglas N. Smith, M.A.
Instructor
Office: 464 Scott Shipp Hall
Phone: 540-464-7893
Email: smithdn@vmi.edu
Fields: Public Speaking, Communication Studies, Filmmaking, Screenwriting
Douglas N. Smith, M.A.
Instructor
Office: 464 Scott Shipp Hall
Phone: 540-464-7893
Email: smithdn@vmi.edu
Fields: Public Speaking, Communication Studies, Filmmaking, Screenwriting
Publications
Selected Publications
Smith, D.N. (2000) Between Two Fires: A Documentary of the United States Government’s Repatriation of Russian Prisoners of War from Fort Dix, New Jersey, June 29, 1945. Dissertation.
Smith, D.N. & Smith, M.Q. (2000) Between Two Fires. Documentary film
Selected Presentations
Foreign Affairs Luncheon Group at the George C. Marshall Foundation, Lexington, VA,
June 2007.
St. John the Baptist Church (ROCOR), Washington, DC, February 2000.
University of Richmond, VA. Audience consisted of students enrolled in Russian area studies program and European history classes. January 2000.
Ft. Leavenworth Historical Society at United States Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth KS, January 2000. Audience was local residents and students enrolled in the Command and General Staff College.
Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary (ROCOR), Jordanville NY, November 1999.
Tolstoy Foundation, Valley Cottage, NY, November 1999.
Holy Virgin Protection Church (ROCOR), Nyack, NY Church, November 1999.
St. Vladimir’s Memorial Church (ROCOR), Jackson, NJ, October 1999.
Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Washington, DC, October 1999
Naro Theater, premiere screening of “Between Two Fires” Norfolk, VA May 1999.
Honors
Between Two Fires, Bronze, Student Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2000
Between Two Fires, awarded a CINE Golden Eagle Award for documentary film, 1999-2000.
Between Two Fires, awarded first place in documentary film, Zoie Film Festival, 1999-2000.
Between Two Fires, awarded first place in documentary film, Spindletop Film Festival, 1999-2000.
Between Two Fires, awarded grand jury first prize for best documentary, New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, 1999-2000.
“Once to Everyman” Finalist, Virginia Governor’s Screenplay Competition, 2002
CREATIVE WRITING PORTFOLIO
“Eagle in the Snow” A spec., feature film adaptation of Wallace Breem’s classic novel in which a Germanic host perches to cross the Rhine River in 406 AD as a Roman general desperately seeks to stop them before the river freezes.
“Eagle in the Snow” 2015. Four-part graphic novel adaptation of the screenplay and novel.
“Skyland” (formerly titled, Once to Everyman). A spec. feature film and original story based
upon historical events. Set in the 1930s, two foreigners coincidentally arrive at a train station in
Virginia’s picturesque Shenandoah Valley, the Revered Peter Denby, a bashful Englishman
bearing news of a paradise beyond the stars, and George Pollock, a glib Yankee resort owner
bent on selling his paradise beneath the stars. Each claim and loves the Shenandoah, the
“Daughter of the Stars,” until the government seizes her by eminent domain to create the
Shenandoah National Park.