Chris Smith, 46; Nurtured Budding Screenwriters

Chris Smith came to Los Angeles to study writing and acting and break into the entertainment industry, which he did. But it was his work as a teacher that helped put at least two young writers on a path from South Los Angeles to Hollywood success.

Smith, 46, died April 21 in San Diego after complications from cancer surgery.

Smith, a Seattle native, attended USC’s theater school as an undergraduate and went on to sell several screenplays, although none was produced. Along the way, he moved to New York briefly and tried stand-up comedy for a year or two in the late 1980s before settling with his family in Silver Lake.

But his direction changed after the 1992 riots, when he decided to offer free screenwriting courses at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Los Angeles.

“He felt like that was a way he could do something concrete,� said his wife, Janet Upjohn.

One of his first students was Antwone Fisher, a Sony studio security guard in his early 30s, whose writing revealed not only budding talent but harrowing history, beginning with his birth in a women’s prison where his mother was an inmate.

“This was right after the riots, so it was scary for a soul brother like me on the streets,� Fisher recalled. “Then I get inside, and there’s this white guy sitting there, and I’m thinking, ‘You ain’t scared, man? Because I’m scared.’ But he thought he could lend a hand by giving people an opportunity to learn how to express their feelings through writing.�

At first, Smith had only Fisher and two other students, who came to recognize their teacher’s sly sense of humor, broad reading habits and fondness for the Beatles.

“He was easy to be around,� Fisher recalled. “There were some Saturdays that you’d go there and not talk about screenplays at all.... Saturday after Saturday, without fail, he’d be there.�

Once he’d heard more of Fisher’s story, Smith called his longtime friend and former USC roommate, film producer Todd Black.

“He told me, ‘You’re going to cry in the meeting,’ � Black recalled. “Sure enough, I cried. And Chris started crying. And then Antwone started crying.�

Raised in orphanages and an abusive foster home, Fisher had eventually found his way to the Navy and a psychiatrist who helped him make peace with his past. But he was still struggling to earn a living when Smith and Black began working with him.

The result, after a decade of off-screen drama, was the 2002 film “Antwone Fisher� -- written by Fisher, directed by Denzel Washington (who also co-starred), produced by Black and co-produced by Smith. Since then, Fisher has made a career as a writer and speaker.

Not long after Fisher, another promising student turned up in Smith’s class, Nnegest Likke. Smith put her in touch with Black, and Black put her in touch with others, and Likke too eventually landed a deal to make a film. “Phat Girlz,� a comedy written and directed by Likke, premiered this month.

As those students made their way, Smith turned increasingly toward education. He earned a master’s at the University of Michigan and taught English at Calabasas High and Marymount High in Los Angeles, along with summer screenwriting courses.

In December, three months before his cancer diagnosis, he earned his doctorate in educational leadership from UCLA, and he was in the early stages of building a business making DVDs to help teachers and principals do their jobs better.

“Chris believed that one person can make a difference in another person’s life. He lived that motto,� said Black, who knew him for 27 years.

“I imagine every time I hear a Beatles song, I’ll think of him,� Fisher said.

Smith’s survivors include his wife, daughters Gleeson and Stella, son Isaac, three siblings -- Sally Mathewson of Tacoma, Wash.; Tim Smith of Glendale; and Shannon Smith of Santa Clarita -- and his mother, Pat Smith of Seattle. His father, Seattle Times editor Lane Smith, died in 1998.

Services are set for 1 p.m. today at Hollywood Presbyterian Church, 1760 N. Gower St. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions in Chris Smith’s name to the Friends of Ivanhoe Elementary School, 2828 Herkimer St., Los Angeles, CA 90039.