At the 98th Academy Awards, filmmaker Sam Davis won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for The Singers, sharing the honor in a rare tie with Two People Exchanging Saliva. It was both a never-before-seen Oscar moment and a major milestone for Sam in his filmmaking career.
An LA-based filmmaker and director of photography, Sam’s work has screened at Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca, and has appeared on major streaming platforms including Netflix and Hulu.
Before securing the Oscar for his latest film, Sam worked as a co-producer and cinematographer on the 2019 Academy Award-winning documentary short Period. End of Sentence.
Now, with The Singers, Sam adds another Oscar-winning chapter to his filmmaking résumé. The film follows a group of down-on-their-luck bar patrons who find connection through an impromptu sing-off, drawing inspiration from a 19th-century story while feeling completely alive in the present.
Part of what makes The Singers feel so distinct is the way it was cast. Sam pulled from viral videos and social platforms to discover first-time performers, giving the film an energy that feels raw, lived-in, and impossible to fake. That approach helped turn a period-inspired premise into something immediate, funny, and deeply human — something Sam does extremely well.
The Singers had already built serious momentum on the festival circuit, winning 35 awards and screening at 50 film festivals, including Tribeca and SXSW, before being acquired by Netflix and added to the streamer’s library.
By the time it reached the Oscars, The Singers had already proven its staying power; the Academy Awards simply made it official. Congratulations to Sam Davis on a well-earned Oscar and on continuing to create the kind of work that feels deeply human.
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You can license footage from a selection of Sam Davis’ work on Filmsupply.
