Sam Friedlander
Projects (1)
A New York native, Sam graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in Communications. Afterwards, he interned at Good Machine (now Focus Features) as a Development Assistant under Anne Carey. He went on to work at NBC for a year and then decided to attend USC School of Cinematic Arts. While at USC, Sam created several award winning short films before receiving his MFA in film production in 2005. His thesis film “Lucid,” has screened at over 25 film festivals worldwide, winning awards for Best Short Film and Best Screenplay. In 2005, Sam co-produced “Hollywood Dog Park,” a hybrid comedy/reality pilot featuring Leah Remini (“King of Queens,” “Old School”) along with Mark Feuerstein and Adam Stein. In early 2006 Sam directed “Lazy Monday,” a music video response to the popular “Lazy Sunday” rap video seen on SNL. “Lazy Monday” was a huge internet success, racking up millions of views and eventually being featured on CNN, VH1, and Bravo, as well as in The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. In 2007, Sam was one of 50 contestants selected out of over 12,000 for the Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett competition "On the Lot", which aired on FOX during the summer. Sam made it from those fifty selected to the final four of the show. Following his success on "On the Lot", Sam directed, wrote, and produced 11 episodes of “The Hustler”, a web series for Sony Television’s Digital Department. Most recently, in late 2009, Sam produced an independent feature film entitled "Thanks", written and directed by Martin Bergman (Peter's Friends). The film is currently being submitted to festivals. Sam resides in Santa Monica with his fiance Elizabeth, a second grade teacher, and his dogs Gabon and Max.