Sam is a 2018 WGA honoree in the Writers Access Project for his spec one-hour comedy/drama "The Secret World of Danny Rizik," based on his own unusual childhood. His mother was Mexican, though everyone pretended she was not a Latina and was not, in the horrible parlance of the time, a “wetback.” (That was the word his father used to describe her long after their non-divorce; it turns out they were never legally married.) Sam’s Jewish father came from a wealthy Texas family but embraced what he felt were worthy liberal causes—like brokering arms for the Palestinians when the family lived in Egypt. With various wives, Sam’s dad hustled the family all over the world, occasionally on the lam, sometimes just for fun—as they lived in Cairo, Honolulu, Austin, Phoenix, Albuquerque, New York, Los Angeles, and Ft. Collins, Colorado. Sam’s career is eclectic—he has worked in multiple tv genres, indie film, musical theater, and he is the author of three books. His creative impulse is almost always to see the tragedy in comedy and vice versa. He is an Anglophile, but not just for the good stuff—for the gritty kitchen sink drama of "EastEnders" and "Coronation Street." "The King’s Speech" producer Joan Lane in London has optioned his new project "Elephant & Castle," which is centered (or centred) around the genre, giving Sam the chance to write in three British vernaculars.