Today we’d like to introduce you to Samuel Askland Gordon.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Samuel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in a small harbor town in Norway, called Larvik. Growing up I found myself practicing art in various manners, I played many instruments with Piano as my main for when I went through music high school (in Norway you choose a major in high school). It was during that time that I found my calling towards the theatre, first as an actor, then quickly to that of a director. It was when I was 17 years old that I would direct my first short film.
I was hooked, and despite my peers telling me it was a dumb pipe dream, that I should grow up and get into a more practical career, I knew what I had to do with my life. However, there was not any opportunities for me to learn filmmaking in my small town, nor in the area close by. The only places in Norway with proper film education was only for those already established, and thus I sought out a film school in the states. I landed on Long Island University in 2012, where I was finally able to develop my skills. Through joining all the projects my upperclassmen shot, every weekend on another shoot for the next 2 years, I became a skilled filmmaker and with the thesis film I made about two boys finding friendship in the girl’s locker-room, I was able to prove myself to the American Film Institute to invite me in as a Director.
In September 2016, I started my Directing fellowship at AFI after a year of working as a gaffer in London. At AFI, every director makes three short films of varying limitations throughout the first year, all designed to make us fail to make us learn to be better. I could not have asked for a better method of learning. During my second year, I created my thesis short film based on my own life – “Count.” – about a 10-year-old boy with OCD on the day his sister and guardian is sent to the hospital, and he is left to survive his strained relationship with his brother.
Count has been invited to several film festivals so far, including SENE, and at the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, it earned me a Directors Circle Award. Now I am still in Los Angeles, working on a new short film that has been commissioned to me while developing several long format projects including a TV Mockumentary Travel show series, and a Norwegian Western Feature amongst others.
I would be amiss to not mention that I had a very special circumstance that has been part of me, one that I have conquered. I had Aspergers Syndrome growing up, but through some incredible luck and insight that came from an epiphany I had when I was 12 years old, I was able to combat it and integrate into myself a skill of understanding social interactions. I believe myself to be one of the only ones, if not the only one, who has ever been able to naturally get rid of their Aspergers Syndrome. The reason I mention this is because of what I was given due to this syndrome and my escape from it. My epiphany allowed my ability to see mine and others behavior and understand the logic and emotion behind them. Using that understanding, I integrated the learned behaviour and overcame my predicament. This ability is what lead me to become a director, as I use it to understand stranger characters and tell their stories, characters that others would not normally tell the stories of. That is why I will tell the stories of these outcasts of society and family. That is why I am a Director.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, as I previously mentioned, I had no venues in Norway to further develop my passion for film on a level higher than just making short films in the backyard. Seeking such venues in Norway is next to impossible, just today I read about an old classmate of mine who was just accepted into that highly prestigious school in Lillehammer in Norway, ten years after struggling by making films in his own backyard. I didn’t want to wait for ten years to get to a place I knew I was ready for, which is why, despite having no money, I went to the states to educate myself. You see, in Norway, we have access to free education, and thus making the change to the states had a great financial stake to it. My fantastic parents supported me as much as they could, and somehow, we were able to pool together a way for me to educate me in my passion here in the states.
I would say that my road has been filled with the normal obstacles, “life” has a way of getting in the way. There has been deaths of my older generation, and even two of my older sisters. The financial obstacles has been big, still taking a great toll. However, I find that so far, I have been able to channel my woes successfully towards the arts, and I was even able to get into AFI on my first try.
I truly believe in the idea that no matter what negative thing that happens in your life, there is a way to find something positive out of it. And there is nothing in the world that allows you to feel alive than the things that keep challenging you!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Samuel Askland Gordon – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I have been told I am what you would call an actors director. I would agree. I think this comes from the fact that when I direct I do my utmost to bring in a team, both behind and in front of camera, who are much better at their craft than me, and I collaborate with them, allowing them the space and motivation they need to create. I am proud of every one of my teams, and the work we make together.
What seems to me a bit uncommon among my peers, I love getting a script already written and as a director, take it on to make it a complete film. Most directors seem to have to direct what they write themselves, which is fine, but I take pride in the joy I get from taking what already exists and translating it through my own lens. This falls back to my thoughts on collaboration, if I can allow my writer to practice their art then I can direct a better movie because of it.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Look, I am from a cold country, I must say one of the things I came to LA for is the warmth. It’s amazing to be able to experience summer for most of the year.
What I like the least about our city? I would say that everything is so spread apart. I like the convenience of the big cities like New York, where you can get and find anything and anyone by walking down the street. Here we have to be in a car for half the day, and I am not a big fan of that.
BUT the thing I like the most about our city is that my people are here. In Norway, I didn’t have my people, the ones who loved cinema and making cinema more than anything. Here in LA, I am surrounded by the cinematic love, and I am able to grow so much more because of it. This is where you want to be if you are a filmmaker.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.samuelasklandgordon.com
- Phone: 3238999521
- Email: samuel.askland.gordon@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samuel_askland_gordon/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.a.gordon.7?ref=bookmarks
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/Count.film/
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