Sam Washington
Sam Washington, Director
Born (1979-08-02) 2 August 1979
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Director and Writer

Sam Washington (born 2 August 1979) is an English director and writer of films and commercials.

His work has been awarded by international organizations and juries, including Cannes Lions,[1] The Webby Awards,[2] London International Awards[3] and Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.[4]

His most acclaimed works include the ‘Ricky’ advertising campaign for Australian telecommunications brand Optus, featuring British comedian Ricky Gervais[1] and the film Lab Rats.[5]

Career

Washington started his career at the age of sixteen and held various positions within the television and film industries before making his commercial directorial debut in 2001 with a series of animated commercials for Sky Television entitled ‘Toon Town’.

In 2003, Washington took a break from commercials to work on the launch of the rock music channel Scuzz. Then in 2005, after a brief return to directing, took a position as a copywriter at London advertising agency Brothers & Sisters, working predominantly on the Sky Sports account.[6]

When Washington returned to directing in 2007, it was for sports brands such as adidas,[7] Foot Locker[8] and Sky Sports,[9] working with athletes like Lionel Messi,[7] and Cesc Fàbregas.[10]

Washington's commercial for Yorkshire Tea marked a move away from sports and into more mainstream advertising, going on to direct commercials for Chevrolet, Tesco, BSkyB, Sky Italia and Vax.[11][12]

In 2009, Washington directed and produced the short film Lab Rats,[5] written by Louis Rosenberg, which went on to win multiple awards including Best Short Film at Moondance International Film Festival and Best Foreign Short at L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival.[5] Lab Rats was later re-edited into a six-part web series, which won the Best Web Series award at the Los Angeles Web Series Festival and was licensed by Frostbite Pictures for distribution.[13]

In 2011, Washington directed the short film Lost & Found as part of the Smoke & Mirrors 48 Hour Film Festival, for which he won Best Film.[14] Lost & Found went on to win the Online Audience Choice Award at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.[4]

In 2013, Washington appeared on Naomi Campbell’s model-search reality TV show, The Face, directing a commercial for luxury car brand Maserati which featured the show’s contestants.[15]

In 2015, Washington directed a series of commercials for Australian telecommunications brand Optus, featuring British comedian Ricky Gervais. The campaign received wide critical acclaim including a Cyber award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity[1] and was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[16] The campaign broke the Facebook record for the fastest branded video to reach 4 million views in Australia.[17]

Awards

Commercial Awards & Nominations
Year Association Award Category
2016 The Webby Awards Official Honouree[2]
2016 VMX Awards Judges Choice Award[18]
2016 Creativepool Awards Nomination for Best Director of The Year[19]
2016 Creativepool Awards Nomination for Influencer of The Year[19]
2015 Cannes Lions Cyber Lion[1]
2015 London International Awards Best Branded Entertainment[3]
2015 BEFest Grand Prix[20]
2015 BEFest Best Campaign[20]
2015 BEFest Best Branded Entertainment[20]
2015 Asia Pacific Excellence Award Overall Winner[21]
Film Awards & Nominations
Year Association Award Category
2014 Los Angeles Web Series Festival Best Series[13]
2012 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films Online Audience Choice Award[4]
2012 Triforce at BAFTA Best Short Film[22]
2012 International 48 Hour Film Challenge Best Short Film[14]
2012 London Independent Film Festival Nominated for Best Short Film[23]
2011 L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival Best Foreign Short[5]
2011 Moondance International Film Festival Best Short Film[5]
2011 San Louis Obispo International Film Festival Audience Choice Award[5]
2011 Silicon Valley Film Festival Best Short Film[24]
2011 Maverick Movie Awards Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director[25]
2011 Ventura Film Festival Best Short Film[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Optus Case Study". Advertolog.
  2. 1 2 "Webby Winners 2016". Webby official site.
  3. 1 2 "LIA winners 2015". LIA official site.
  4. 1 2 3 "Palmsprings Shortfest Winners 2012". Hollywood Reporter.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Fall 2012 Catalogue". PRWeb.
  6. ↑ "The Work". Campaign Live.
  7. 1 2 "Adidas campaign". Campaign Live.
  8. ↑ "Sneakerface". AdForum.
  9. ↑ "Better Effect". Campaign Live.
  10. ↑ "Mascot". BestAdsOnTv.
  11. ↑ "Official Website". samwashington.com.
  12. ↑ "Official Website". Akita Film SRL.
  13. 1 2 "List of winners 2012". Roma Webfest.
  14. 1 2 "Washington Wins". LBB Online.
  15. ↑ "Take A Bow". The Drum.
  16. ↑ "Did Ricky Just Do That". AdForum.
  17. ↑ "AntiAd". MediaWeek.
  18. ↑ "VMX Winners 2016". PRWeb.
  19. 1 2 "2016 Shortlist". Creativepool Awards.
  20. 1 2 3 "BEFest Winners 2015". BEFest Official Site.
  21. ↑ "List Of Winners 2015". Asia Pacific Excellence Awards official site.
  22. ↑ "Winners Announced". Studio Magazine Online.
  23. ↑ "Official Selection 2012". LondonIndependant.
  24. ↑ Normal, Abby (2011-10-03). "2011 Silicon Valley Film Festival "The Results"". Yahoo Voices. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  25. ↑ "2011 Maverick Movie Awards, Year 03". Maverick Movie Awards. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
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