New Head of Production, Media, and Owned Channels at Surfing Australia Studios

CASUARINA( Tuesday, April 5th/2022): Surfing Australia is excited to announce the appointment of renowned producer and broadcast specialist Chris Smith as our new Head of Production, Media, and Owned Channels. 

Chris has worked at the nexus of the Surf and Production Industries over the past 15 years. As the former Senior Producer at the World Surf League, he was responsible for the live production of the Championship Tour, clocking up thousands of hours of globally distributed live broadcast coverage for both network tv and online audiences.
 
In 2021, Chris produced the broadcast of Surfing’s debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with the coverage awarded a Bronze Ring for Best Coverage by the Host Broadcaster at the Olympics Golden Rings Awards. 

Chris has a proven track record of creating compelling content for brands and their partners, having worked with partnerships teams across multiple sports properties, including Surfing, Premier League, and The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

In the role of Head of Production, Media and Owned Channels, Chris will head up Surfing Australia Studios which produces hundreds of hours of content each year including our successful tv series for channel 9 ‘Surfing Australia TV’, ‘The Hold Down’ and ‘RIVALS’. His arrival signals a new era for the studio as it shifts focus to include more live production and streaming of surf and sports events. 

Surfing Australia CEO, Chris Mater said: “We are beyond excited to bring such an amazing talent like Chris to lead our media & owned channels business at Surfing Australia. As we ramp up our live streaming business arguably no better person in Australia to take this challenge on.”