Outlandish Writer. Serious Puppeteer.
Timely Escapism in Multiple Mediums.
Who Is Sam
Sam Jay Gold is the inescapably American son of Jewish refugees who fled Russia for China, then China for America, dooming him to a never-ending search for a place to belong — and a low-key suspicion of anyone who’ll have him.
Sam is a screenwriter, specializing in TV dramas told from the margins of society and history that tackle contemporary issues by sneaking under the radar with dark comedy, high stakes action, and grounded characters just trying to make the most of life’s indignities. His work has won Best Writing at the Independent TV Festival, took 2nd Place at UCLA, and has received lifetime hosting and promotion on The Black List - even garnering a shout out from Franklin Leonard. [1]
Sam is the co-creator of Newts! [2] — a surf-rock musical podcast released by PRX; featured in Vulture, NPR, and The Guardian; and nominated for Best Fiction Podcast by the Podcast Academy.
Alongside his writing, Sam is a theater artist and world-traveling puppeteer supported by the Jim Henson Foundation. He got his start in puppetry with the support of the Watson Fellowship [3] — awarding him 12 months of subsidized travel to study traditional forms of puppetry around the world. Sam trained in Marionettes in the Czech Republic, Bunraku in Japan, and Wayang Kulit in Indonesia while exploring our shared capacity for empathy across the animate/inanimate divide — an experience that cemented Sam’s belief in the transformative power of epic, embodied storytelling.
Onstage, Sam's work has been featured at venues including Lincoln Center, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) — as well as at festivals in Europe, Asia, and South America. He has taught puppetry, acting, and playwriting for Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the New Victory Theater, and CO/LAB, an arts non-profit offering individuals with developmental disabilities a creative and social outlet through the theater. [4]
Who Sam Isn’t
Sam Jay Gold is not Sam Gold, the Tony-Award Winning Director. However, if you mistakenly send Sam Jay Gold tickets to your opening, he will come.
Sam Jay Gold is not Sam Gold, the Canadian photographer. Kudos to her, though, for scooping up www.samgold.com from that guy in Kentucky who wouldn’t sell it to Sam Jay Gold even though his name is Adam.
Sam Jay Gold is not Sam Gold, the protagonist of Holy Rollers, a 2010 Independent Film about an Orthodox Jew who becomes a drug smuggler. Nor is he Sam Gold, the mysterious kingpin at the center of a gang war in the 2005 film, Revolver, directed by Guy Ritchie.
Finally, Sam Jay Gold is not Sam Jay, a talented comedian and writer on SNL. Sam Jay Gold did not consider this additional layer of name-doppelgänging when he joined the union with a middle name. Lesson learned.
