E115 - Sarmad Masud Part 1: Directing Shorts to an Indie Feature

In this episode of The Directors' Take podcast, your hosts Oz Arshad and Marcus Anthony Thomas are joined by Director Sarmad Masud, whose credits include Hollyoaks, Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge, BBC’s You Don’t Know Me and Sky’s Bulletproof. He also wrote and directed the indie feature My Pure Land which he shot in Pakistan. 

 

Sam takes us through:

 

-His early start back in 1999 at Hull School of Art and Design.

-The journey to find his voice and make shorts whenever he could.

-Missteps, mistakes and finding a way.

-His successful short film, TWO DOSAS (Himesh Patel) funded by Film London and was voted best film in their London Calling Plus category by David Yates.

-Struggles to get a job which lead to him working as an Art Dept runner. 

-The long arduous journey of making his debut indie feature MY PURELAND.

-Having lunch with his man crush, Danny Boyle.
-Beginnings of his TV career and shooting Hollyoaks and Ackley Bridge.

 

Sam most recently directed all four episodes of You Don't know Me, a brand new drama series for Snowed-in Productions, written by Tom Edge. It is based on the bestselling novel by Imran Mahmood and aired on Sunday 5th December at 9pm on BBC One.Sam previously directed the Bulletproof  Special for Vertigo and Sky set in Cape Town, having also directed the Season 2 finale. He also recently directed on Ackley Bridge  for The Forge and Channel 4. His first feature My Pure Land,  is set and filmed in Pakistan and based on the extraordinary true story of one woman and her family who defended their home and land from 200 bandits. It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and was the UK submission to the Oscars in the Foreign Language category. 

  

Credits

Music by Oliver Wegmüller

 

Socials

Instagram: @TheDirectorsTakePodcast

Twitter: @DirectorsTake

Sam’s twitter: @Sammasud37

If you have any questions relating to the episode or have topics you would like covering in future releases, reach out to us at TheDirectorsTake@Outlook.com.