Samantha Wishman

Samantha Wishman is a writer, director, and producer whose work has been featured on NPR, in The Washington Post, and in The New York Times.

After starting out as a litigation attorney at a New York law firm, she turned her interest in storytelling and social change to film. THE PITCH, a scripted short film based on her experience pitching a feminist softball comedy in Hollywood, was an official selection at LA Shorts, The Women’s International Film Festival, Palm Springs Shorts Fest, and the IFS Independent Filmmakers Showcase.

The idea for the documentary FREE PUPPIES! came when she helped her family adopt a rescue dog who was transported north from Mississippi just after the 2016 presidential election. FREE PUPPIES! travels across the country’s political divide to explore one of the many areas where no public animal services exist, and volunteers — many of them women — step in. The film follows a group of independent “rescue ladies” who work together to patrol vast rural counties in the Tennessee Valley, caring for stray and surrendered dogs. FREE PUPPIES! was widely released to critical and audience acclaim.

Sam is the Vice President of First Run Features, a New York-based independent film distribution company founded in 1979, and Hollydale Productions is the company through which she produces. She is also a member of the New York Bar.