I’m Sam, and I have always been a writer.
When I was 5 our family business went bankrupt. My parents sold everything they owned and fled to England. We’d been a working-class-family-made-good, and it was back to those working class roots we returned. I remember scraping ice off the inside of the windows in my grandmother’s council house that first winter.
But, amongst an extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins I discovered a tradition of storytelling. Friday nights were family nights. Kids upstairs, where we told gruesome tales of axemen and escaped lunatics. The scariest story earned the teller bragging rights for a week.
To keep up, I devoured countless novels at the local library. The first win was an Anne Rice inspired monstrosity.
Convinced by my parents that I should pursue a career, I graduated with a degree in Law mid-global recession. Jobless, I headed to Japan where I taught English. For a year I lived in the infamous Gajin Towers-- the only apartment building that would rent to foreigners.
Finally, I returned to the UK where I tried a variety of roles, from debt collection to specialising in innovation at a global bank.
Made redundant as Covid struck, I tried my luck selling writing. Online, I found myself a niche in indie game design, drafting cut scenes scripts, and uncovered my passion for screenwriting as a craft. I’ve since won the BAFTA Rocliffe TV Drama showcase and placed in a number of industry competitions.
Wychwood Budget: $100K - $1M | Horror ⋄ Fantasy Logline: A sullen girl is forced to spend her summer in a rural community reeling from the disappearance of two boys - and the spreading evil from the local woods.
Folk Law Budget: $100K - $1M | Horror ⋄ Drama An orphan discovers her place in an eccentric family of supernatural investigators who battle deadly 'shades' as they seek to keep the world, and themselves, alive.
Bafta Rocliffe New Writer TV Drama Winner
(2021)
Final Draft Big Break Semi-Finalist
(2021)
Reddit Horror Pilot Winner
(2021)
Raindance Short Script Semi-Finalist
(2021)
Stage32 Sci Fi/Fantasy Semi-Finalist
(2021)
Stage32 New Blood Quarter-Finalist
(2021)
Screencraft Horror Quarter-Finalist
(2021)
University of Nottingham