Sam joined Rise in 2017 with a background in political science and care work. Since then he has worked on productions including Dror Moreh’s The Human Factor (Sony Pictures Classics); Paul Taylor’s The Art of Political Murder (HBO); David Osit’s Mayor (Emmy winner, Peabody winner); and Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, the only film ever to have won both the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. The film subsequently received BAFTA and Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary.

Other productions include George Carlin’s American Dream, a two-part documentary for HBO directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary; Once Upon a Time in Londongrad, a political thriller for Sky Documentaries, Peacock and NBCUniversal; The Balloonists, which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival; and Teenage Wasteland, directed by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and was subsequently acquired by Netflix.

Most recently, Sam co-produced Nuisance Bear (A24), directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired worldwide by MUBI.

Sam is a producer of Erik Shirai’s SUMO: Spirit Weighs Nothing, which premiered at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival and went on to screen at the Telluride Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. 

He is currently producing and developing further documentary and scripted projects, including a documentary feature for Netflix.