Samuel Leighton-Dore is a Screenwriter, Director and Visual Artist based on the Gold Coast, Queensland. He is the co-director of Sad Man Studio, a boutique animation and creative studio that he runs with his husband, Designer and Art Director Bradley Tennant.
In 2023, their animated horror-comedy feature Other Half was selected as one of the projects to be developed as part of the prestigious Untapped program run by Screen Australia and Australians In Film, where Samuel received mentorship from LA-based writer and showrunner Jordan Young (Bojack Horseman, Krapopolis). In 2024, Sad Man Studio produced the pilot episode for their 23 x 11 minute children’s series Seahorsies, which was selected by Screen Queensland for presentation at the Asian Animation Summit in Taiwan.
Samuel has released two books, How To Be A Big Strong Man (2019, Smith Street Books, Simon & Schuster) and Wow It’s All A Lot (2023, HarperCollins). Currently, he is co-creating and writing the 10-episode coming-of-age animation WILLY, which Sad Man Studio is co-producing with Mad Ones Films (Jimpa) and Ludo Studio (Bluey).