DIRECTOR  .  PRODUCER  .  CAMERA DEP’T

bio . about  









film

+ SIBLINGS
+ (pride/prom)
+ THANKS TO HER 
+ ERICA
+ LONDON’S WALLPAPER

+ SUFFERING
+ IN THE SPECIFIC IS THE UNIVERSAL


photo

+ Kimie
+ Gaby 
+ April
+ Fran & Ben
+ Sam & Betty
+ Catherine


resolution project

+ JANUARY         2024
+ FEBRUARY      2024
+ MARCH            2024
+ APRIL                2024
+ MAY                  2024
+ JUNE                 2024
+ JULY                  2024
+ AUGUST           2024
+ SEPTEMBER   2024









THANKS TO HER (2022)

narrative feature

watch the full film
watch the trailer



Director/Producer: Sam McCoy

Producer: Hayley Ulmer

Writer: Sam Orlowski

Director of Photography: Anh Vu

Editor: Lauren Balint

Color: Luke Carquillat

Gaffer: Emily Voelker

Sound Mixer/Boom Operator: Genna Edwards

Production Designer: Jon Ward

Costume Designer: Camdyn Bass



Starring:

AJ Molder as Millie Blake

Julia de Avilez Rocha as Andy Wellick

JA Silverman as Jade

Karla Payne as Pepper


feature film, director, co-writer



involvement:
- directing - producting - writing - script editing













Millie Blake has always been a perfectionist. A soccer star and straight A student, her main focus is on her future. So receiving a month of community service at a local nursing home, after trying to break up a fight at school - not how she pictured the start of her senior year of high school.

To make matters worse, Millie is stuck at the nursing home with the instigator of the fight: Andy Wellick. She is another senior student, who is outspoken about her identity as a lesbian on the asexual spectrum. Initially, the two girls butt heads, but the tension quickly blossoms into friendship as they learn more about each other.

As time goes on and Millie’s friendship with Andy grows into something more, she finds herself trying to find the courage to finally show her true self to her friends and family. This coming of age, all-inclusive LGBTQ+ film focuses on the self, sexuality, and how that plays out in one's community.




festivals/awards

London Director Awards - Finalist

Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival - Semi Finalist

Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival

Pride Film Fest

Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

ReelQ Pittsburgh - World Premiere












































THANKS TO HER (2020)

narrative short

watch the short film

Writer:
Sam Orlowski

Co Directors:
Sam McCoy & Sam Orlowski

Producer: Hayley Ulmer

Director of Photography: Anh Vu

Editor: Sam Orlowski


In 2019, college senior Sam Orlowski wrote a script wanting to show characters in sapphic relationships the way she experienced them in her own life. From that script, a short film, “Thanks to Her” was made and uploaded to YouTube in September of 2020. 

As of March 2024, that film has over 2 million views.  Somehow, this small film was able to overcome the algorithm and be seen and responded to by people of all age groups, identities, and backgrounds. 

As filmmakers, the thing that we were most taken by were some of the comments left in the discussion section of YouTube. Many were from young people, happy to finally see asexual or sapphic relationships in the way that they experienced or wanted to experience them. ]

Inspired by the many comments under the video, we decided to re-write and produce the film as a feature, with director Sam McCoy at the helm. The core creative team, Sam McCoy (Director/Producer), Hayley Ulmer (Producer), and Anh Vu (Director of Photography) remained the same, as well as the two leads cast as Millie and Andy (AJ Molder, Julia de Avilez Rocha). 

During a month of funding on Kickstarter, we were able to raise $32,000 (after fees) to make the feature in its entirety.  With such a small budget, the only way we were able to make the film was through the support and energy of the Pittsburgh community. 

Through donated locations, food, time, and equipment, we were able to hire and pay a woman/nonbinary-led crew made up of Pittsburgh film professionals and budding filmmakers. The support we received from the local community during production was overwhelming, with the majority of it coming from people outside the industry. 

This experience reminded us that community-led productions are possible, especially when those involved can see themselves in the story. It has been a privilege to be able to finish the story, and we can’t wait to share it with the beautiful audience we have cultivated.