Michael Acton Smith

Michael Acton Smith OBE (born 1974) is the current co-CEO and co-Founder of Calm, a meditation space company.[1] He is also the founder of Firebox.com,[2] and founder and chairman of children's entertainment company Mind Candy – the creators of Moshi Monsters.[3] He has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "a rock star version of Willy Wonka"[4] and by The Independent as "a polite version of Bob Geldof."[5]

Michael Acton Smith
Michael at the Web Summit 2018

Career

In 1998, Acton Smith co-founded online gadget and gift retailer Firebox.com with Tom Boardman.[6] In 2004, Firebox was listed on The Sunday Times' 'Fast Track 100' list of the fastest growing, privately owned business in the UK.[7]

In 2004, Acton Smith secured $10M backing and launched Mind Candy.[8] The company launched alternate reality game Perplex City, a global treasure hunt with £100,000 buried somewhere in the world that played out across various media including websites, text messages, magazines, live events, skywriting and multiple helicopters. The game was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2006.[9] After three years (and $9M spent) Perplex City was placed on indefinite hold.[5]

In 2007 Acton Smith launched online world Moshi Monsters. Today, Moshi Monsters has over 90 million users around the world.[10] It has expanded offline[11] into selling a range of products including toys, a kids magazine in the UK,[12] a DS video game,[13] a top 5 music album which has gone gold in the UK,[14] books, membership cards, and trading cards. In December 2013, Moshi Monsters teamed with Universal to release a full-length feature movie.[15]

In late 2012 Acton Smith co-founded Calm.com, along with Alex Tew.[16] In 2013 the company announced a $450,000 funding round from a group of Angel investors.[17] By 2015, Calm had reached 2 million downloads worldwide and, after winning a British competition, launched the world's first "slow TV Ad".[18] That same year, Acton Smith released a book with Penguin called Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World.[19] It was published in 12 countries.[20]

In July 2017, the release of Baa Baa Land, an eight-hour slow cinema film, was announced with Acton Smith as Executive Producer.[21]

Acton Smith is also the founder of Ping Pong Fight Club,[22] Silicon Drinkabout,[23] and the Berwickstock Festival.[24] He was awarded a BAFTA in 2013 for Moshi Monsters[25] and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the creative industries.[26]

References
  1. "That One Time I Was Tucked In By A Startup". Techcrunch. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  2. "Moshi Monsters makes it third time lucky for dotcom entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  3. "Mind Candy appoints Ian Chambers as new CEO". Licensing.biz. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. "The man who gave birth to Moshi Monsters". Telegraph. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  5. "The man who aims to hide a monster under every bed – Business Analysis & Features – Business". The Independent. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  6. Cellan-Jones, Rory (31 December 2011). "The Moshi Monsters mogul". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  7. "Directorzone". www.director-zone.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  8. Hannah Prevett (19 August 2012). "A monster success". Elitebusinessmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  9. "Mind Candy: Michael Acton Smith – Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas". Startups.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  10. Mike Butcher (2 May 2013). "As Moshi Monsters Hits 5 years, Can it pull of Three new games?". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  11. Jemima Kiss. "Moshi Monsters plans move into online children's TV | Media". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  12. "ABC Figures Reveal Moshi Monsters Magazine is the Best Selling Children's Magazine in the UK". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  13. Tyler, Lewis (30 April 2012). "Moshi Monsters video game breaks chart record | Latest news from the toy industry | ToyNews". Toynews-online.biz. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  14. Pakinkis, Tom. "Moshi Monsters album goes Gold – with no promotional airplay". Music Week. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  15. James Batchelor (20 August 2013). "Moshia Monsters The Movie Hits Cinemas This Christmas". MCV UK.
  16. "Executives Need to Find Calm in a Stormy World". Forbes.com. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  17. Sarah Perez (26 February 2013). "Relaxation Calm.com Launches iPhone App that Helps you Chill, Grabs $415K in Angel Funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  18. "calm.com relaxation app unveils world-first two-minute 'slow TV' ad". thedrum.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  19. Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World
  20. Ashley Macey (6 February 2016). "This New Journal Will Teach You to Be More Mindful". Brit+Co.
  21. Hanrahan, Mark (19 July 2017). "Is this eight-hour sheep epic 'the dullest movie ever'?". Reuters. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  22. Kevin Maher (13 February 2014). "Inside London's Silicon Roundabout". Esquire. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  23. Josh Halliday (17 July 2011). "Mind Candy – the monster that lurks on Silicon Roundabout". The Guardian.
  24. Judy Bevan (16 July 2011). "The Man Who Aims To Hide A Monster Under Every Bed". independent.
  25. Leo Kelion (30 December 2013). "Moshi Monster Founder and ARM's Ex-Boss Honoured". BBC.
  26. "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 14.
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