Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Lukowski.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I hate origin-stories when it comes to us Entertainers. I get paid to tell other people’s stories – not my own. But I will say that I’ve been doing this a long time – it’s been at least 20 years now. And I can safely say that I started out alone with like ten dollars in my pocket. And now – as of last year – I helped produce 4 SAG-Indie Horror Movies – all post-COVID, post-Strikes, and without A.I. – and all of them are currently available now to stream on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Shudder. And best of all – we got 4 new Scripts written and copyright and all ready to go for next year. You cannot do this work alone – you need your Team! A good Cast – a great Crew – an amazing Editor – and a Team of Producers and Distributors to Market the damn thing – ya need ’em all! And I am grateful to have worked with some amazing people over the years!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s never been a smooth road. And it doesn’t matter the time, the place, the budget, or the technology – Professional ShowBiz has always been a gamble. But high risk means high returns. The biggest problem I see right now, is that Entertainment has always been a luxury product – and with inflation the way it is – less Audiences can afford to buy luxuries right now. So, at the moment, getting the Greenlight, the Budget, and Distribution Deal is especially hard. The real question is: What Do Paying Audiences Want? And Investors and Producers have gotta accept that what a paying Audience wants might not necessarily match up with what Investors and Producers wanna sell. You can’t make people buy something they don’t want – especially if they’re trying to save their money – that’s just a plain-old shitty business model. So, now is the time to scale down all those Big-Budget I.P. Franchise Productions that have dominated the box-office and the streaming platforms for the past 15 years. And now is the time to greenlight what is currently trending the best returns on investment – and right now that’s Indie Horror. It’s cheaper to produce. It translates across Domestic and Foreign Markets without a lot of subtitles. And its Fan Base is both loyal and openly anti-A.I.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I play bad guys on TV.
Just a working Character Actor – that’s really the beginning of the end of it.
Now, when I’m not performing – I’m Producing. I’m helping other people find work and tell their stories.
But I gotta say – the above question was asked because I had to select something that describes what I do – and I selected that I’m an Artist/Creative from the provided list – and from that prompt came the above question.
I’m not sure I’m a fan of the question. It implies that what I sell or what I offer as a service is – well namely – myself.
But that’s not accurate.
I guess what I’m saying is: who I am isn’t really all that interesting – what I do is interesting. Unfortunately, talking about what I do is boring – ya just gotta watch it.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Nope – not answering this one.
Pricing:
- Rates are Union Contracted and are based on your Production’s Budget.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4033051/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samlukowski/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LukowskiSam/
- Twitter: https://x.com/SamLukowski
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjpoDgV-0Sc
