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
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
,
The Webby Awards
The Webby Awards are List of web awards, awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. ...
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...
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
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
account.
When Washington returned to directing in 2007, it was for sports brands such as
adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
,
Foot Locker
Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an Americans, American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries.
Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in ...
and
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
, working with athletes like
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea is a black tea Tea blending and additives, blend produced by the Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, Bettys & Taylors Group since 1977. It is the most popular traditional black tea brand sold in the UK. In 1886 Charles Edward Taylor F ...
marked a move away from sports and into more mainstream advertising, going on to direct commercials for
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
,
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
,
BSkyB
Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
,
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an agree ...
and
Vax
VAX (an acronym for Virtual Address eXtension) is a series of computers featuring a 32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA) and virtual memory that was developed and sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the late 20th century. The VA ...
.
In 2009, Washington directed and produced the short film ''Lab Rats'', 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
The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival (LACS) is an annual film festival held in the spring in Los Angeles, California. LACS programs short films exclusively in the comedy genre, and is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. During ...
. 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
The Los Angeles Web Series Festival, more commonly known as the LA Web Fest, is a web series festival based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2009 by Michael Okwudili Ajakwe Jr and was one of the first web series-based events; ''Filmm ...
and was licensed by Frostbite Pictures for distribution.
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. Lost & Found went on to win the Online Audience Choice Award at the
Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (a.k.a. Palm Springs International ShortFest) held annually in Palm Springs, California is the largest film festival for short films in the United States.
In 2013, Washington appeared on Naomi Campbell’s model-search reality TV show, ''The Face'', directing a commercial for luxury car brand
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
which featured the show’s contestants.
In 2015, Washington directed a series of commercials for Australian telecommunications brand Optus, featuring British comedian
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
record for the fastest branded video to reach 4 million views in Australia.