Sam Permar makes stories that bridge dark comedy and satire with body horror as he processes the world as a queer person. Growing up in the woods of Martha’s Vineyard, he didn’t have a camera but made movies anyway by stapling together stacks of paper and drawing storyboards of action heroines, imagining himself in those worlds. His active imagination quickly led him to start doing theater and he eventually went on to get his BFA in drama at NYU Tisch, where he studied Lee Strasberg’s method acting and began writing screenplays and shooting micro budget films in Brooklyn.

 

Sam’s background in acting enhances his films by giving them a character driven focus, mixing naturalistic performances with off kilter, surreal elements inspired by his love of horror. He uses this combination of styles to explore the darkness of status quo. Sam often highlights flawed characters who navigate the world “wrong” in order to succeed.

 

Sam’s films have screened at NewFest, No Budge, and The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival. He’s currently working on his MFA in film at Emerson College and will shoot his horror thesis film “Tick” in 2024.