A comedy writer living with his parents in San Jose, California. Published in McSweeney’s, Points in Case, and Slackjaw. Won the 2018 Austin Film Festival award for a comedy audio drama I wrote an am currently producing.
Day job: Master Model Builder at LEGOLAND Bay Area.
2018 Austin Film Festival Audio Drama Script Winner
There was a time when space exploration was full of romance, adventure, and danger. But that time is well past. Turns out, space isn’t that interesting once you’ve mapped out the intergalactic transport routes between habitable planets. These days, the deep expanses of space are about as exciting as your average interstate off-ramp in the middle of a desert.
At one of these desolate, deep space rest stops, we find Neil, a starry eyed kid who still dreams of exploring the cosmos even though the only space job he’s barely qualified for is this rest stop, and his manager, Hugo, who’s more than qualified to work in the galaxy’s greatest scientific institutes, but for years has chosen to keep vigil at this remote fueling station even though he clearly hates it. Thousands of lightyears from civilization, this odd couple is on the brink of driving each other mad or uncovering the universe’s greatest mystery.
Rest Stop is a scifi/comedy audio drama I wrote very, very, very subtly influenced by Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It won the Austin Film Festival 2018 Best Podcast Fiction script award.
WRITING
Greetings, fellow Puritans. My name is William Bradford, and I want to talk to you about an exciting new opportunity that hath the potential to transform your Puritan life. Let me ask you a question: Do you want to worship God in your own way? Are you tired of some Bishop of the Church of England telling you when and where you can take the sacraments and whether those sacraments are or are not the actual body and blood of our Lord?
Hello! May I have everyone’s attention please? You over there, you can leave those bodies. I already tried giving them a little shake to wake them up. They won’t. I know many of us are still in shock from the shipwreck, but if we are going to survive on this tiny, cluttered desert island, we need to get organized.
Hey! Due to an unfortunate and completely unavoidable wildfire related incident we caused at least 17 times in 2017 (and also in 2018), PG&E finds itself in need of 30 billion dollars to pay settlements. Apparently the judge isn’t happy with us filing for bankruptcy again, which means our negligence has started a massive, uncontained FIRE SALE! This is your chance to save big!
Dear Sirs, It’s me again, Reginald Dalby of number 13 Cherry Tree Lane. Sorry to write you so often, but since moving here I’ve found it to be a most peculiar neighborhood unlike any in London. My thorough examination of the HOA guide yields little insight into the peculiarities I’ve written you regarding nannies blowing through my yard and a contingent of chimney sweeps dancing about my roof. Also, there seems to be woman flying to and from number 17 Cherry Tree Lane by means of an umbrella. I mean, the first time I saw it happen I thought, “Wow! That is magical and so wonderfully done!” But I saw it happen again more recently, and while it was neat, I found myself pondering, “did that need to happen again?”
Once upon a time, there was a Taylor Swift who released a 1989 album. With hits such as "Welcome to New York" and "Blank Space," singer-songwriter Ryan Adams was inspired to cover said 1989 album, which then sparked Father John Misty to cover Ryan Adams' cover in the style of the Velvet Underground, which then sparked these writers to cover the 1989 album again, but with short stories.
What do Monty Python, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme all have in common? They are all much better sketch shows than Traffic Therapy, but I try. I love sketch comedy and one day during an Upright Citizens Brigade class table read of sketches, I thought, “Hey, just hearing sketches performed is pretty funny. I want to do that.”
After a while pondering how to do it and lots and lots of writing and rewriting sketches, I got a talented voice actors and together we created an audio sketch comedy show. Then I took the recordings and spent many hours editing them with music and sound effects to make a unique kind of sketch comedy show that all takes place in your ears and imagination.
PRESS
Fiction Podcast Award
The Rest Stop at the End of the Universe
By Samuel Suksiri
When I meet Suksiri, he’s sitting at a table in a smart, gray blazer, sipping a cold brew coffee. In an artist’s way, his hair’s not exactly combed. He’s sociable, and we soon get to talking. He studied television writing in grad school. That was until a professor pulled him aside and said something along the lines of, “It seems like you’re here to write comedy. This is a TV screenwriting program, and you might end up a little disappointed.”
Keep an ear open for "The Rest Stop at the End of the Universe," winner of 2018's Austin Film Festival Podcast Script Award. Written by Sam Suksiri of monthly sketch comedy podcast "Traffic Therapy," "The Rest Stop at the End of the Universe" was named Podcast Script Award winner at the 2018 Austin Film Festival. It emerged victorious after being selected for a final round alongside finalists "Alethea," "Forces," and "Welles D-11."
For two decades plus, Austin Film Festival (AFF) has celebrated and served those brave enough to dive into this daunting process, championing silver screen storytellers who’ve willed their gluttony for punishment into promising careers. For our fourth straight year, we’ve partnered with AFF to highlight this year’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch.
The 2018 Script Competition Winners were chosen from a record field of 10,580 scripts entered in the screenplay, digital series, playwriting and fiction podcast competitions. Finalists were reviewed by an industry panel of judges including Wendy Calhoun (writer/producer Stage 19, Empire), Peter Craig (writer The Town, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I and II), James V. Hart (writer Hook, Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Christina Hodson (writer Transformers: Bumblebee, Birds of Prey), Ali LeRoi (writer/producer Everybody Hates Chris, Survivor’s Remorse), Nicole Perlman (writer Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel), Scott Rosenberg (writer Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Venom), Rodney Rothman (director Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, writer 22 Jump Street), Oren Uziel (writer 22 Jump Street, The Cloverfield Paradox) and Brian Yorkey (showrunner 13 Reasons Why, playwright Next to Normal), among others.
