Whitney Sudler-Smith

Sudler-Smith is the son of socialite Patricia Altschul and the late Lon Hayes Smith, a former head of Dun & Bradstreet and senior vice president at Morgan Stanley. He is Altschul's only child. After his parents divorced, Altschul made being a good mother to Whitney a priority, and she later married Edward Fleming and Arthur Goodhart Altschul Sr.

He divides his time between Los Angeles and Charleston, South Carolina, where he lives with his mother at the Isaac Jenkins Mikell House. The Greek Revival mansion was built by British artisans in the 1850s.

Sudler-Smith created Southern Charm, which follows the social lives of a group of Charleston residents. He serves as the show's executive producer and has appeared as a main cast member since its 2014 television run. He has been featured on the series alongside Shep Rose and his mother, Patricia Altschul.

He also served as an executive producer on the spin-offs Southern Charm Savannah and Southern Charm New Orleans. The show grew from what Sudler-Smith called a pipe dream into a major television production, while his production company continued developing projects beyond the franchise.

Sudler-Smith began directing independent films with Going for Baroque and Afternoon Delight in 1996. He wrote and directed Bubba and Ike, a 1998 comedy that starred Jesse Borrego and Elisa Gabrielli and was first screened at the Austin Film Festival. In 2002, he wrote and directed the television pilot Torture TV, starring Danny Huston and Trevor Goddard.

His most prominent film project before Southern Charm was Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston, a 2010 documentary about fashion designer Roy Halston. Sudler-Smith wrote, directed, produced and narrated the film, which included interviews with figures such as Liza Minnelli, Anjelica Huston, Billy Joel, Diane von Fürstenberg and André Leon Talley. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and received largely unfavorable reviews, although Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave it an A-.

Sudler-Smith's production company, Vainglorious, developed Family Office with producer Nick Shumaker. Described as a dark comedy about young London high society, the project marked his first move into scripted television. He also co-produced Mrs. America, a documentary series about the Mrs. America beauty pageant, with Penny Lane directing.

A classically trained guitarist, Sudler-Smith has shared guitar performances of songs including Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song" and AC/DC's "Hells Bells." He also played entrance music at the Southern Charm dog wedding involving Peaches and Little Craig.