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Michael Acton Smith

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Michael Acton Smith
Acton Smith in 2018
Born (1974-09-03) 3 September 1974 (age 50)
Alma materBirmingham University
Occupation(s)Co-founder and co-CEO of Calm
Known forFounding Moshi Monsters

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

Education

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Acton Smith attended Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. In 1996, he graduated from Birmingham University with a degree in geography.[1]

Career

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Acton Smith joined the human resources department at Goldman Sachs after graduating in 1996.[1] In 1998, he 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.[1]

In 2007 Acton Smith launched online world Moshi Monsters. In 2013, it had over 90 million users around the world.[10] The online world shut down in 2019.[11] It has expanded offline[12] into selling a range of products including toys, a kids magazine in the UK,[13] a DS video game,[14] a top 5 music album which has gone gold in the UK,[15] books, membership cards, and trading cards. In December 2013, Moshi Monsters teamed with Universal to release a full-length feature movie.[16]

In late 2012 Acton Smith co-founded Calm.com, along with Alex Tew.[17] In 2013 the company announced a $450,000 funding round from a group of Angel investors.[18] By 2015, Calm had reached 2 million downloads worldwide and, after winning a British competition, launched the world's first "slow TV Ad".[19] That same year, Acton Smith released a book with Penguin called Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World.[20] It was published in 12 countries.[21]

In July 2017, the release of Baa Baa Land, an eight-hour slow cinema film, was announced with Acton Smith as Executive Producer.[22]

Acton Smith is also the founder of Ping Pong Fight Club,[23] Silicon Drinkabout,[24] and the Berwickstock Festival.[25] He was awarded a BAFTA in 2013 for Moshi Monsters[26] and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the creative industries.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "The man who aims to hide a monster under every bed – Business Analysis & Features – Business". The Independent. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  2. ^ "That One Time I Was Tucked In By A Startup". Techcrunch. December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Moshi Monsters makes it third time lucky for dotcom entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith". telegraph.co.uk. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Mind Candy appoints Ian Chambers as new CEO". Licensing.biz. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. ^ "The man who gave birth to Moshi Monsters". Telegraph. 15 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. ^ "'Moshi Monsters' is shutting down because it runs on Flash". engadget.com. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  12. ^ Jemima Kiss (April 2011). "Moshi Monsters plans move into online children's TV | Media". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  13. ^ "ABC Figures Reveal Moshi Monsters Magazine is the Best Selling Children's Magazine in the UK". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Pakinkis, Tom. "Moshi Monsters album goes Gold – with no promotional airplay". Music Week. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  16. ^ James Batchelor (20 August 2013). "Moshia Monsters The Movie Hits Cinemas This Christmas". MCV UK.
  17. ^ "Executives Need to Find Calm in a Stormy World". Forbes.com. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "calm.com relaxation app unveils world-first two-minute 'slow TV' ad". thedrum.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  20. ^ Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World
  21. ^ Ashley Macey (6 February 2016). "This New Journal Will Teach You to Be More Mindful". Brit+Co.
  22. ^ Hanrahan, Mark (19 July 2017). "Is this eight-hour sheep epic 'the dullest movie ever'?". Reuters. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  23. ^ Kevin Maher (13 February 2014). "Inside London's Silicon Roundabout". Esquire. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  24. ^ Josh Halliday (17 July 2011). "Mind Candy – the monster that lurks on Silicon Roundabout". The Guardian.
  25. ^ Judy Bevan (16 July 2011). "The Man Who Aims To Hide A Monster Under Every Bed". independent.
  26. ^ Leo Kelion (30 December 2013). "Moshi Monster Founder and ARM's Ex-Boss Honoured". BBC.
  27. ^ "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 14.
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