Growing up in suburban Philadelphia, Sam dreamed of one day becoming an astronaut and flying the first mission to Mars. But as he devoured science fiction novels to prepare for his journey, he revelled more in the ancient power of storytelling than the far-off future destinations these stories revealed. After graduating from Williams College in 1998, Sam embarked to New York City, where he cut his teeth in the film industry before moving to Los Angeles to attend USC film school. There he directed the film "Over the Line," which won multiple awards, including Best Director and Best Actor at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, and was rated as one of the best films of the year at USC's 2006 First Look Festival.
In 2011, Sam directed "Buzkashi Boys," one of the first narrative fiction films to be shot entirely on location in Kabul with a mixed Western and Afghan crew. This film was the first project of the Afghan Film Project, a non-profit NGO that Sam co-founded in 2010 to help train Afghan filmmakers and foster Afghanistan's film industry.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
