Ray Smiling is a commercial and narrative director represented in the U.S. by division7. A former creative director at Droga5, Johannes Leonardo, Translation, BBDO New York, and 72andSunny, he spent years leading sports, culture, streetwear, and music brand work before moving fully into directing. In 2023 Ad Age named him a Creativity Awards Director to Watch. His division7 branded filmography includes Amica Insurance’s 2025 Jayson Tatum “Back to Zero” legacy-protection spot and “A Trusted Source,” McDonald’s (agency Translation), Champs Sports’ 2022 “Pick Six”/“Win Better” back-to-school campaign (Ad Age, LBB), Beats by Dre, Foot Locker, Subway, and U.S. Bank. Parallel personal work includes the Nowness-premiered quarantine series KHAKI IS NOT LEATHER (Vulture: “A24 wet dream”), the 2022 music-vignette short Play This At My Funeral, the kamikaze trailer, and festival short The Strange Performances at the Church. Smiling’s voice collides emotional truth with dark comedy—outsiders, subcultures, absurdism, sports ritual, and unexpected needle drops. Craft notes stress NYC as an extra character, easy-rig run-and-gun mixed with planned performance, high image-and-sound bars from big-brand advertising, and direction by reference and metaphor. Based between Brooklyn and Los Angeles, he balances division7 commercials with narrative development via Color Creative.