Ken Smith (9)

Kenneth "Kaz" Smith (born 1966 - died May 3, 2011, Los Angeles, California, USA) served as Music Manager for DreamWorks Films. Smith attended Washington DC public schools most of his childhood, and graduated from Coolidge High School in 1985. He attended UDC for two years before joining the Air Force, where he served during the Persian Gulf War. Relocating to Los Angeles from his native Washington, DC in 1995 with an educational background in computer science and sound recording, Smith parlayed those skills and a love of music into a job at the DreamWorks Film Music Department. In 1999, Smith started at DreamWorks as the music coordinator for all films; live action and animated. By 2001, he advanced to a Music Manager at the DreamWorks Animation studio. Smith stayed at DreamWorks until 2008, when he became a creative manager for film & TV licensing at EMI/Capitol Records. In addition to lending his talents to three Academy Award-winning films, Smith saw the movie soundtracks that he helped assemble for "Gladiator", "The Prince of Egypt", "Shrek and Shrek 2" attain RIAA-certified platinum-sales status. He also freelanced as a music supervisor on various independent movies under his company High Volume Inc., including the indie features "Kingston High" and "The Red Machine." On May 3, 2011 Kenneth Smith passed away after a courageous year-long struggle with brain cancer, he was 43.