The filmmaker is determined to make it
In this day and age, the world is full of part time artists and those balancing their dream with a 9-5, school or other worldly responsibilities. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with dabbling into your passions on the weekends, we here at Gritty Vibes tend to gravitate towards the risk takers. The ones who put it all on the line, bet on themselves and let the chips fall where they may. This is why the story of Sam Hicks was particularly intriguing. The filmmaker poured his heart (And his savings) into his last film “Outgrown.” And if you let him tell it, he’s just getting started.
Sam’s hustle has been on display since touching down in NY, but his turning point came while he was in the midst of saving his coins for a different lane. “When I initially started producing
Outgrown, I had about 25,000 in the bank,” He says. “I was saving up to buy properties in Texas…when I was saving that money up doing my research on real estate, I came to the conclusion that real estate wasn’t my true passion, it was film.” He began writing his film from what he calls, a dream perspective. Meaning if he wrote a helicopter into his script, he had to make it happen. Fixated on that dream, he spent upwards of 50,000 dollars making it become a reality. ‘I was under a ton of stress” Sam says. “You go from having 25,000 to owing 30,000 in three days.
“When I was saving that money up doing my research on real estate, I came to the conclusion that real estate wasn’t my true passion, it was film.”
Outgrown went on to be a festival favorite, winning awards and screening across the country. Also, thanks to Sam being an early employer and having stock in a company that sold, he was able to catch up to his credit card debt. Having made it through that storm with barely a scratch and a film under his belt, most would take a deep breath and chill. Not Sam. “After I was able to get my credit card debt under control, within a month I was already producing another film,” He says.
These days his sights are set on even bigger things and his passion has him uprooting his life once again, this time headed to films biggest stage: Hollywood. Thanks to nifty marketing and a number of supporters who are beginning to catch on to his work ethic, Sam was able to raise over 15,000 towards an Alexi mini camera. He pitched to an angel investor who will handle the rest of the cost, and he’ll be producing a feature film entitled “Brackish” that looks like a hit. “That gave me enough motivation and belief in myself that I can make it”, He says. “If I have two films and an Alexa mini, I have enough hustle that I can get out to LA and make it happen.” At this point, it wouldn’t be wise to doubt Sam Hicks. The young film maker is all in to his dreams. And he simply will not stop until they are a reality.
