Samantha Hart

An award-winning writer and producer, Samantha Hart has had a successful career in the entertainment industry, which began under the mentorship of David Geffen at his venerable record label, Geffen Records working with artists Nirvana, Guns 'N Roses, and Aerosmith. She went on to become Creative Director at Gramercy Pictures (now Focus Films). Samantha's creative vision brought prominence to such independent features as Dead Man Walking, Fargo, The Usual Suspects, and Four Weddings And A Funeral. She continued her run of hits at Fox Searchlight with Waking Ned Devine, and Boys Don't Cry before moving to Universal Pictures as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. Seguing to commercial advertising in 2004, she went on to run Foundation Content, the production/editorial powerhouse she co-founded in Chicago with James Lipetzky, before the duo re-branded in Los Angeles as Wild Bill Creative in 2017. Passionate about non-profits, Sam has developed and directed campaigns for Boys and Girls Club, A Place Called Home, Inside Out, and Participant Pictures. Her creative direction for United Way Chicago entitled Clothesline earned her the prestigious Gold Hugo Award. Sam is publishing her first book, Blind Pony, in 2020. The book is a poignant memoir covering roughly twenty years of Sam's life growing up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania which may sound like a childhood idyll. But for Sam, it was a twisted vision of pastoral family life part Faulkner part Dante. At fourteen years old, she ran away to find her father, a man she only knew as Wild Bill. Discovering he wasn't the hero she's hoped he'd be, she was on her own. Ultimately, she would find her calling in the entertainment industry.