Franco Sama

Executive Producer at Samaco Films
Producer

Los Angeles, California

Member Since:
April 2013

Last online:
> 2 weeks ago

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About Franco

Independent feature film producer Franco Sama boasts a remarkable and extensive history in public speaking, public relations and a nearly two decades of independent film development, production and financing experience.
Sama has Executive Produced and/or produced an impressive array of over twenty (20) successful independent feature films including most notably, “Guns, Girls and Gambling” starring Gary Oldman, Christian Slater and Dane Cook which is now a cult favorite; this film was released into theaters and acquired a worldwide distribution deal from Universal Pictures.
Other films Sama has produced include; “Black Limousine” starring David Arquette and Vivica Fox, “Tooth and Nail” starring Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones, and "Paid" starring Corbin Bernsen and Tom Conti. Sama also serves as Executive Producer on the film festival darling “Petunia” starring Thora Birch, Brittany Snow and Academy Award winner Christine Lahti.
His shingle “Samaco Films, LLC”, headquartered at Los Angeles Center Studios in Downtown Los Angeles, is currently financing and producing a slate of several independent feature films, including, VODUN, MIRACLE MILE and ALEXIS COLETTE”. Their latest film “The Inheritance” has completed Principle Photography and will begin Distribution by the end of 2020.
In addition, Sama is also a highly sought after public guest speaker having launched his hugely popular film financing and distribution forum program “Finance Indie Road Map”, otherwise known as “The F.I.R.M.” which is designed specifically to educate and assist first and second time filmmakers in their quest to develop, fund, produce and release their first feature film(s).
In his constant effort to seek out and educate and assist new filmmakers, Sama travels throughout the United States and Internationally educating emerging filmmakers on the business of film funding and has been the keynote speaker and guest panelist at the 2018 & 2019 V.I.P. Film Summit held in Washington D.C. respectively.
Sama also serves on the Board of Directors for the non-profit organization New Filmmakers, L.A.

Unique traits: Film Financing and Distribution Expert

Gender:
Male

Certifications

Credits

Black Pills (2018)
Film (Horror, Sci-Fi and Thriller) Producer A respected doctor leads a clinical trial for a new tissue regeneration drug and soon his patients are confronted with terrifying side effects.
Chimera (2017)
Film (Drama, Sci-Fi and Thriller) Producer A brilliant but disturbed scientist decides to freeze his children alive, while he races against time to cure their deadly genetic disease by unlocking the secret of immortality encoded within the DNA of the Turritopsis jellyfish.
Game of Aces (2016)
Film by Samaco Films / Layfilms (Action, Adventure and War) Executive Producer A rescue attempt of a German traitor during World War I has unexpected consequences and sets off an adventure across the Arabian desert.
The Livingston Gardener (2015)
Film (Thriller) Producer In order to close the case files on over a dozen disappearances, a persistent detective, a bereaved senator, and a skeptical prison warden agree to the request of convicted serial killer Jim Gardener, granting him a live television interview in exchange for the location of his remaining victims. Facing off against newsman Pierce Lawrence - the investigative journalist that helped bring him to justice - Gardener uses the interview to set into motion a sinister plan that no one sees coming.
With Us (2014)
Film (Romance) Producer Add a Plot »
Three Days in Havana (2013)
Film (Comedy, Crime, Drama and Thriller) Producer Jack Petty gets more than he bargained for when he travels to Havana on business and gets caught up in an assassination conspiracy with his new friend Harry Smith.
The Hand of Now (2013)
Film (Short and Thriller) Producer A palm reader comes between a woman and her boyfriend on a night that will change their lives forever.
Cut/Print (2012)
Film (Horror and Thriller) Producer A group of ambitious filmmakers set out to create the world's first reality horror movie. Their plan was simple; they'd offer an active serial killer complete anonymity and a worldwide platform from which to display his work in exchange for genuine footage of his grisly crimes. What ensues is a hellish game of cat and mouse as a cryptic filmmaker, known only as The Maestro, comes out from hiding in search of his "perfect shot". Written by Vince Orlando and Adam Robitel
Surrounded by Ghosts (2012)
Film (Drama) Producer As life grew harder the choices made by a group of friends in Detroit became more and more desperate.
Guns, Girls and Gambling (2012)
Film (Crime and Thriller) Producer This story throws Elvis impersonators, Native Americans, a cowboy, a drop dead beautiful blond assassin, a frat boy, two corrupt sheriffs, the girl next door and a prostitute into a chase for a million dollar Native American artifact stolen during a poker game at a casino. Written by Anonymous
Petunia (2012)
Film (Comedy, Drama and Romance) Producer An off beat family of New Yorkers must come to terms with their own misgivings about life, relationships and the sheer unpredictability of love itself. Petunia weaves together the lives of brothers Charlie (Tobias Segal), Adrian and Michael (Eddie Kaye Thomas) as they unlearn everything their psychoanalyst parents have taught them. While Michael's cynical wife Vivian (Thora Birch) discovers she is pregnant, the family is also changing. Charlie's would be boyfriend George (Michael Urie) is in a polyamorous relationship with fitness fanatic Robin (Brittany Snow) and Adrian has developed a unrelenting sex addiction. Meddling parents Felicia (Christine Lahti) and Percy (David Rasche) must decide whether to reignite the spark in their relationship or start all over again. Petunia is a film about a dysfunctional family unit on the verge of a nervous breakdown. This is the story of how they pick up the pieces. Written by Anonymous
B.O.Y.D. (2012)
Film (Comedy) Producer Set against the 2003 northeast blackout, "B.O.Y.D." follows a group of 20-somethings as they embark on a journey with equal parts debauchery and self-discovery. Featuring the sights and sounds of western new york, it is an unforgettable experience that reminds us all what it feels like to be stuck in a rut and how much fun you can have getting out of it. Written by Anonymous
Black Limousine (2010)
Film (Drama) Producer Jack McKenzie is a professional movie composer, who's just finished working on the soundtrack for a big budget Hollywood Sci-Fi movie called The Land of the Astronauts. Unfortunately, the movie turns out to be a major box office bomb, and Jack's out of work again. To make ends meet, he gets a job as a limo driver and quickly bonds with his famous client Thomas Bower - a popular Australian actor working in L.A. who happens to be a fan of his work. He also meets wild Hollywood party girl Erica at an AA meeting he attends and falls for her. In time, the deceptive nature of those around him, the constant pressure he feels from his ex-wife and her hostile boyfriend who also happens to be his ex lawyer, and his own unbearable feeling of guilt over the accidental death of his youngest daughter push Jack to the verge of insanity. As a consequence, he starts seeing the real world around him as a waking dream.
The Penitent Man (2010)
Film (Drama and Sci-Fi) Producer The Penitent Man tells the story of psychologist Dr. Jason Pyatt, a man devoted to his work - a man torn from his family. With his struggling marriage and mounting bills, Jason is at a crossroads with the life he has chosen and the life he could have. When one of his clients - the mysterious Mr. Darnell - walks into his office and paints him a repentant tale of future economic and moral collapse, Jason's eyes are forever opened. With the help of his best friend Ovid, he embarks on a personal mission to change the course of his future, and possibly the world, forever. Written by Mirror Images LTD
Blood Ties (2009)
Film (Crime, Horror and Mystery) Producer A group of graduate students from Hollow's Pointe University write a thesis paper, giving their theory of the unsolved campus murders of 20 years ago. A conspiracy is uncovered and the students are now in danger for their lives. When the students begin to dig deeper, what they find shocks everyone. The conspiracy goes far beyond what anyone had anticipated and one by one the students disappear as they try to stay one step ahead of those who must keep them silent. Written by indiehorror
Death's Door (2008)
Film (Horror) Producer Each week on her local cable show "The Seance Hour," medium Madame Camille holds a seance with guests from her viewing audience but it's a sham. Special effects, smoke and mirrors. Everybody behind the scenes knows it - including Camille. What none of them realize is that Camille's psychic powers are REAL. Her seances actually do open a door to the other side and connect the living and the dead. Tonight the show's producer has booked a controversial guest to boost the ratings. A guest whose past holds a dark, horrible secret. Tonight when their hands are joined to form the seance circle and the door to the otherside is opened ...Evil will be unleashed. Written by Chemical Burn Entertainment
Tooth and Nail (2007)
Film (Drama, Horror and Thriller) Producer In a post-apocalyptic world, a small group of survivors, who call themselves Foragers, plan to rebuild civilization from their headquarters in an empty hospital based in what is left of Philadelphia. But they're soon forced into a face-off war with the Rovers, another gang of survivors whom are a brutal gang of cannibals. As the Rovers take out the Foragers one by one, the Foragers must draw on all their resources to stay alive. Written by Anonymous
The Final Curtain (2007)
Film (Horror) Producer A group of college theater students sneak into the Baxter University theater at night to initiate the 'frosh meat'. Something goes terribly wrong. The next night the same actors become locked into the theater, each one of them has to face the consequences for their actions. Written by Erik & Jeff
Life Goes On (2007)
Film (Crime and Drama) Producer Vince and Amy. Homecoming King and Queen. Captain of the football team. Captain of the cheerleading squad. Life at home in their working class neighborhood wasn't always perfect; but they were making the best of it. Or so it seemed. Flash forward eight years. Amy is graduating law school and moving forward. Vince is an addicted dope dealer on a downward spiral to oblivion. Amy finally has to take a stand -- "me or the drugs". Blinded by foolish pride and the local celebrity status he's attained by being Detroit's underground party supplier, Vince chooses the drugs. To his superficial entourage of customers and cronies, Vince boasts he's better off without her. But she's gone. For real this time. And Vince is feeling it. Racked with self-loathing and loneliness, Vince has to consume near fatal amounts of the drugs he supplies to shut out the pain of life without her. Will this downward spiral continue? Or will Vince kick the drugs and ask Amy to take him back? The next forty-eight ... Written by Vince Orlando and Brian Lawrence
Paid (2006)
Film (Crime, Romance and Thriller) Producer Paid is a film noir in the tradition of the French gangster movie. It is a story about underworld characters that have come to regret the choices they have made and now secretly long for a different and more meaningful life. It is also a love story between Paula Gireaux , a 28-year-old Parisian call girl working in Amsterdam and a hit man, Michel Angelo (30) whose hearts are touched when a six-year-old Bolivian boy abruptly enters their lives. The boy changes their fate. He gives them reason to reach for their dreams and to start a whole new life together. But, at the moment Paula and Michel decide to escape the underworld, Paula realizes that her hands are tied to a paid deal she has made with a powerful English narcotics baron, Rudi Dancer (55). The enticing offer Paula could not refuse, turns into the demon that stands in the way of her future with Michel. Eventually, Michel and Paula find their way to freedom but not without paying a high price. Written by Anonymous