Sam Kellman is a 22-year-old filmmaker and immersive entertainment geek from Los Angeles.
He's been making films ever since he picked up a pesky old tape camcorder at the age of four to shoot a cast of LEGO figures. Eventually he started using real actors, too. Over the course of high school (LACHSA, the #1 performing arts high school in the U.S.), Sam wrote, directed, and produced numerous shorts, some going on to win various awards and nominations at festivals, including Tribeca Festival, Moondance, WestFlix, NFFTY, Luminescence, Seattle International Film Festival, All American High School Film Festival, and more. Along with writing and directing projects, he is also an editor and visual effects artist, using those talents to further enhance his stories. In 2024, he graduated from Emerson College with a BA degree in Visual Media Arts.
Additionally, Sam has utilized his Halloween home haunt, The Opechee Haunt, as a way to showcase his passion for themed entertainment, and as a vehicle to grow as an immersive storyteller. He has been invited to create haunted attractions for the Hall of Shadows at the world’s largest Halloween and horror convention, Midsummer Scream (2017, 2018, 2019); has been featured on panels at both Midsummer Scream (Next Generation Haunters: A New Breed of Terror, 2018) and ScareLA (New Blood, 2015); and is profiled in SAGA Studios’ 2018 documentary, Epic Home Haunts (currently available on Amazon Prime Video). He also continues to exercise his immersive muscle with stand-alone immersive experiences unrelated to Halloween.
He launched his own independent production company, Inside the Box Productions, in 2020, already having collaborated with brands like Syfy, CBS, LEGO, and more. Inside the Box is not only creating film projects, but also immersive entertainment, like their critically acclaimed 2022 immersive theatre production, Within Our Walls, and 2023's immersive audio experience, SLEEPWALKR, which was featured at New York's 2023 Tribeca Festival. Check it all out at goinsidethebox.com.
For Sam, stories always come first. It's all about finding creative ways to tell them.