Cairo Smith is a writer-director born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Starting on the stage, he honed his sense of presentation as a director, winning the Kennedy Center College Theater Award for an original, full-length play. At Niantic Labs, he spent four years cutting his teeth on the bleeding edge of augmented reality, rising from assistant to writer-director on the twenty-million player, multi-million dollar spy thriller Ingress.

As a screenwriter, his adventure feature The Heart of Sri Katava won the 2021 Fresh Voices competition. His latest piece, Lord of Space, just placed second in category in the prestigious PAGE awards.

A product of layered ancestry and turbulent times, Cairo lets his varied backgrounds guide the perspectives of his work, drawing out the humanity in everything from speculative fiction to intimate chamber dramas. He recently completed his debut feature as writer-director, Screwdriver, which will be heading to festivals in the coming year.