Samuel L. Pierce is an American actor, writer, director, and producer, who began cutting his teeth on filmmaking in his early teens. Since then, the now eighteen year old has written and produced several feature films which has earned him a first-look distribution deal with Random Media.
In an exclusive interview, Flickering Myth sat down with the quadruple threat, Samuel L. Pierce to talk about making movies and what we can see from him next.
Hi Samuel L. Pierce, welcome to Flickering Myth! What got you into filmmaking and made you realize that it was your chosen path?
Hey guys, thank you. As long as I can remember, I have always been interested in making movies and used to make little stop motion movies with LEGOs and action figures when I was eight. I knew I always wanted to do something involved in the film industry as I love to tell stories.
How did you get fully started? Did you create a short film to get yourself climatized with filmmaking?
I mean technically I have but I wouldn’t consider it a really serious short film it was more just for fun and practice while growing up being filmed on iPad from my school and with my friends. My sci-fi feature film The Future of Us was originally going to be a web series, but during editing I realized I had enough footage to make a feature length film.
You are an actor in the movie, but what came first, acting, or overall filmmaking?
I would say filmmaking always came first in some sense mainly because I liked making characters to then get to play and bring to life. I’ve just always found it super cool to write a story and bring it to life as a filmmaker and more importantly as an actor. But I would definitely say they have always gone hand in hand with each other.
How would you describe the projects that you typically prefer?
I love projects in several film styles and genres, but my favorites are comedies, action films, sci fi stories, and spy thrillers, but they all kind of connect to one theme which is the feel-good movies of the 80’s and 90’s style I watched growing up.
Congratulations on your distribution deal. It’s an incredible achievement at such a young age. Tell us about how that came about.
Thank you! So, I had just made my first feature The Future of Us which I did self-distribution for, and I really wanted to get a distributor for my next one. I reached out to Blood Sweat Honey about things we can do in pre-production to help the The Get Rich Quick Scheme. (I was 16 at the time) He then said he would watch it when it’s done and see if there is a place for it in distribution. Once it was done, I reached out to him, and he watched it and that’s when we began. My sales agent Blood Sweat Honey introduced my film The Get Rich Quick Scheme to Eric Doctorow from the distribution company Random Media. Eric loved the movie and my story as a young filmmaker. After my initial call with Eric which was actually done on the set of Off The Line during lunch, I right away knew he was the right person to distribute the movie, and from there he offered me the opportunity to release all future projects through his company. It is a highly unique situation and one that I am truly grateful for.
What’s coming up next for you?
Yes, there is actually another movie that i just got done filming called Incident 290 so far. It’s a sci-fi action movie and I star as Jack Harrison. I’m also the main writer, director, and producer. Plus a few more opportunities bubbling on the horizon.
We are excited to see it. What’s the best way to follow you online?
Thank you! Most of my projects are on IMDb, Instagram, Facebook and my website.
Our thanks to Samuel L Pierce for taking the time for this interview, and to Liz Rodriguez from EMR Media for helping us put it together.
