Daily Inspiration: Meet Sam Wiens

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Wiens.

Hi Sam, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was encouraged to move to LA by a successful casting director and longtime Burbank resident back in 2023 after I cast his daughter in a college film. I’d had a desire to give entertainment a go, but it wasn’t until just prior to the pandemic that I committed to it. I’d find myself thinking about my favorite media every day. About how cool it would be to contribute a story like Breaking Bad or Django Unchained to popular culture. I hightailed it from Colorado to Burbank in the summer of 2023 with no job and no plan. Just the North Star of fostering a community and chipping away at getting my writing on screen. In the two or so years since living here, I’ve completed three short films and a spec advertisement. My first feature is up next on the list. If there’s one thing I’m proudest of so far, it’s that I executed the things I said I would with no compromises. My films are self-funded. My team members are all valued equally. And I overcome any obstacle I’m faced with because it’s simply what needs to be done.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s been a bumpy road, as I’m sure is the case for most of us right now. But I’d take my circumstances over anyone else’s, because that’s just it: they’re mine. There’s value in the method(s) I employ to better myself. I truly believe if my struggles weren’t both frequent and embraced by this point, my motivation to create and capacity to grow would be in question. I never try the same approach twice expecting a different result. I’m big on failing quickly in order to reassess, identify the issue and build back better. Money is always a big hurdle. I can’t even feign happiness doing full-time work at a job unrelated to the business, so I take less hours at work and live a simple life. Being told “no” is another tough pill. I’m not entitled to a “yes”, but being denied anything is never a good feeling, and I’m prepared to hear more of the former than the latter, especially in my stripe-earning early years here.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a film writer/director obsessed with telling stories that have something to say. And by that I mean drama with moral ambiguity. Characters that make questionable decisions. Stories that push the limits of censorship and convention. I’m a writer that can’t stand shackles slapped on by a society too sensitive to acknowledge its blemishes. That’s where the REAL entertainment value and character complexity lie for me. I’m proud of all my projects, but namely The Brink, a western short that discusses these unconventional themes; alcoholism, mortality, ego and existentialism, among others. It’s the most technical, interpretive, ambitious project I’ve completed yet, and it’s become a pillar of real progress for me this year.

I’m terms of what I’m most known for, I’d say deliberately avoiding tropes often recycled by filmmakers my age. Genre projects associated with low-budget filmmaking are great, and there’s ample room for them, but I know I’m supposed to contribute something entirely different. So that’s what I’ll continue to do.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Truth. Tell the truth. A character has an ugly heart that you’re afraid to expose in your writing? Good. Expose it. “I can’t do that.” is a self-fulfilling prophecy in writing to me. Should you consider the implications of an offensive story with no redeemable qualities? Sure. But always….always tell the truth.

Another mention is originality. New stories. So many untold gems are just sitting out there, from the pens and laptops of writers that couldn’t be more different from you and I. Put your comfort aside and listen to them. You’ll be glad you did.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/samwiensfilm
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-wiens-89454b240
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@samwiensfilms?si=KeiKPz8YFs7hrhCa

Image Credits
Primary image: Greg Moore

4 subsequent images: Walter Limonadov