About the Author

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Sam is an independent film-maker, and a fully registered Technician with the Techo guild, the international 3d guild and a registered editor/director at Director and Editors Guild New Zealand. He has extensive film and television experience both in front and behind the camera and runs his own studio. He has a passion for technology, with a work history in camera, film-making, animation, digital art, production, Director and Producer tasks, budgeting and editing. He has experience working in children's shows for Walt Disney Television during his time as an animator at Toonz Animation Studios and also taught CGI animation for Freelance Animation School. His short film "Valley of the Succubus" was accepted into the Short Film Corner at Festival de Cannes 2013. His documentary NZ Burlesque Festival was accepted into the Stereoscopic3D festival in Belgium. He shoots and edits all Nocturnal Customs Limited productions and was top of his film making classes before entering the industry in 1994. He was the first employee of Toonz Animation with no formal training in animation, and was up to production speed there after two weeks of in-house training. He also went on to train other animators while working on a variety of animated shows for Walt Disney Television. In 2000 He started working as the publications co-ordinator for the Unitec Student Union. During his time there he increased advertising revenue by 70% and decreased production costs by 25% re-sourcing the printing provider. This allowed him to provide the students with a free CD of New Zealand Music with each orientation issue of In Unison Magazine. When He started there the magazine was a drab, black and white newsprint publication but by the time he had finished it was a shiny new full colour, full gloss publication. While teaching at Freelance Animation School he had a 94% pass rate of graduate students in his CGI Animation classes. Some of his students have gone on to work in the animation and game development industry. The debut CD he co-directed for LOOP Magazine was quoted as "the best thing to come out of New Zealand ever!" by Satchi and Satchi. He was one of 350 producers to attend the exclusive Producers Workshop at Festival de Cannes 2015, selected from submissions from working professional producers worldwide.