Greg Smith
Greg Smith has been at VIA so long it seems impossible that he had a career before that. Rumor has it, though, that after graduating from Columbia University, Smith bounced around New York City, first as an actor onstage, in commercials and on film; and then behind the camera, writing, producing and directing for indie films.
One day something life-changing happened. Another struggling writer/director friend had just made a TV commercial and reported back that not only was it fun, but you actually got paid to boot. Greg liked the sound of that (almost as much as his young bride, Emily, did), so he jumped into advertising and hasn’t looked back.
Since then, he’s solved some pretty tough problems for a lot of marketers, including Welch’s, Klondike, Samsung, 1800 Tequila, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Perdue, North American Breweries, Pepsi and Sony. He’s been crucial in setting the agency’s creative standards and work ethics, and attracting rising creative stars from all over the country and as far away as Sydney, Australia.