Todd Smiley has been interested in theater and film since he was a high school student in Sweetwater, Texas. In our conversation with Todd, he told us all about how his teenaged interests led him to a full-fledged career.

Q: Exactly what is the job of best boy electric?
Todd Smiley: Best boy electric is the assistant to the gaffer. The gaffer is the chief lighting technician, so I help the gaffer with his idea of lighting of the film. Whether it's the mood or whether it's day or night, the gaffer and the DP [director of photography] put the look of the movie together and they do the creative work of the look of the movie. I help take care of the technical aspects of creating the creative side of the movie. So the best boy electric is in charge of the men and the equipment. I put the crew together and I gather up the equipment.

Q: So before a movie even starts in production, when do you start working on the movie?
Todd: It varies. Usually it's a month or three weeks before the movie starts, depending on how big the production is. If it is a bigger studio production, it can be a longer time than that. But normally here, with a Robert movie, it's three to four weeks.

Q: How did you get into this?
Todd: I started in high school dramatic productions, where you learn how to do everything, from lighting to acting to building the sets. Basically, in Texas, we have a thing called the UIL, which is a competition for plays. So on the high school level, you have a strong competition, a dramatic-arts competition, which takes place once a year.

Q: How then did you get into the business, exactly? Did you have to do apprenticeships, internships? Did you network through people at school?
Todd: Well, actually my degree from college is in play writing, but I always worked in technical theater to pay my way through school. I just really enjoyed it, when I was growing up.

My first job was working on an independent film as an art director here in Austin, Texas. I had been doing props at the time and the prop shop at the University of Texas got a call looking for people to interview. So I actually interviewed for my first job in the movie business. From that interview, they offered me the job, and I took it, and it just snowballed. I have actually been working on movies for about 20 years here in Austin.

Q: What films have you worked on that we would know?
Todd: One of the movies that I worked on that I am really proud of is Waiting for Guffman. I worked on all of Robert's movies here in Austin: The Faculty, and Spy Kids 1, 2, and Spy Kids 3D. I have been really fortunate to work on a lot of movies.

Q: Okay, I am going to ask one silly question. Who is your favorite superhero?
Todd: My favorite superhero, I guess, would be Batman. I was young and I remember when Batman came out, I was in the second grade. I wanted a Batman T-shirt so bad. And I got one! My folks bought me a Batman.