Sam Esmail facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sam Esmail
Esmail in March 2016
Born	(1977-09-17) September 17, 1977 (age 47) Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	New York University (BA) Dartmouth College American Film Institute (MFA)
Occupation	Director producer writer
Years active	2004–present
Notable work	Mr. Robot Homecoming Comet
Spouse(s)	Emmy Rossum ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	2

Sam Esmail (born September 17, 1977) is an American film and TV creator. He is a producer, director, and writer. He runs his own company called Esmail Corp.

Sam Esmail is famous for creating, writing, and directing the TV show Mr. Robot (2015–2019). This show won many awards and starred Rami Malek. He also wrote and directed the movies Comet (2014) and Leave the World Behind (2023). He directed the first season of the exciting TV show Homecoming (2018–2020), which starred Julia Roberts.

Sam Esmail's stories often explore ideas about feeling alone, how technology affects us, and life in America.

Sam Esmail's Early Life and School

Sam Esmail was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. His parents came from Egypt. He has an older sister and two younger brothers. One of his brothers, Samer, worked on Mr. Robot and Homecoming.

When Sam was five, his family moved to South Carolina and then to Charlotte, North Carolina. As a child, he loved technology. He got his first computer at age nine and started computer programming a few years later. He went to high school in Summerville, South Carolina. He later moved back to Sewell, New Jersey, and finished high school in 1995.

Sam Esmail went to New York University. He studied film and computer science there. He graduated in 1998. After college, he worked for a short time at an internet company. Then, he started his own software company called Portal Vision. He raised a lot of money for it, but the software quickly became old when faster internet came out.

He then went to Dartmouth College for a short time to study creative writing. In 2001, Sam moved to Los Angeles. He studied directing at the AFI Conservatory and earned a special degree in 2004.

Sam Esmail's Career in Film and TV

Starting His Career and Comet

After finishing school in 2004, Sam Esmail found it hard to get a job in film. He worked as an assistant editor for a few years. He helped edit reality TV shows and special features about how movies were made.

When he wasn't editing, Sam wrote screenplays. He felt frustrated with Hollywood movies, so he started writing his own. One of his screenplays, Sequels, Remakes & Adaptations, was listed on the "Black List" in 2008. This list shows the most liked movie scripts that haven't been made yet. This helped him get an agent in Hollywood. He wrote another script that made the Black List the next year. He also helped write the horror movie Mockingbird, which came out in 2014.

Sam really wanted to direct his own films. So, he wrote and directed his first movie, Comet. It was released in 2014 and shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Mr. Robot and Homecoming

Mr. Robot Sam Esmail started working on the TV show Mr. Robot in the late 2000s. He first thought of it as a movie. He was inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and events like the Arab Spring. He said the main character, Elliot, is a lot like him. Like Elliot, Sam also has social anxiety.

He decided to turn his story into a TV pilot for a show that would last four or five seasons. He worked with USA Network to develop the show in 2014. Mr. Robot first aired on June 24, 2015. Sam Esmail was the creator, a main producer, and the head writer. From the second season on, he also directed every episode of the show. He directed 38 out of 45 episodes in total.

The first season of Mr. Robot was very popular and received great reviews. Sam Esmail was nominated for two Emmys for his work. The show ran for four seasons, ending in 2019.

After Mr. Robot became a big hit, Sam Esmail started his own company, Esmail Corp.

Homecoming Sam Esmail was a producer and director for the Amazon Video series Homecoming. This show starred Julia Roberts. He received excellent reviews for his directing on the show, which premiered in November 2018.

In 2019, Sam Esmail's company signed a four-year deal with Universal Content Productions. This company had already worked with him on Mr. Robot and Homecoming. This deal led to many new projects. For example, he developed a TV show with Emmy Rossum called Angelyne, which came out in 2022.

Expanding His Work

In 2020, Sam Esmail sold two new drama shows to ABC. He also produced a TV series called Gaslit for Starz, which premiered in 2022. This show was based on a podcast about the Watergate scandal and starred Julia Roberts.

Also in 2020, it was announced that Sam Esmail would direct a movie for Netflix called Leave the World Behind. It is based on a novel and stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke. Production started in 2022. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's company also joined as producers for this film.

In 2021, Peacock picked up The Resort. This is a dark comedy TV series about true crime stories that happened at resorts. Sam Esmail is an executive producer for this show, which started production in 2022.

In 2022, Apple ordered a TV series based on the classic 1927 sci-fi movie Metropolis. Sam Esmail was set to write, direct, and produce it, but the project was later canceled in 2023.

Future Projects Since 2018, Sam Esmail has been working on a movie with Universal Pictures and Mr. Robot star Rami Malek. It's based on a true story about a Muslim FBI agent. They are also working on another secret project together.

Sam Esmail is also developing a film called Tell Tale Heart. He is working on a TV series called The American Throne. Other projects include a comedy miniseries and a TV show about the Coast Guard. He is also developing a new series for the Battlestar Galactica franchise.

Sam Esmail's Personal Life

Esmail and his wife Emmy Rossum in 2018

In 2015, Sam Esmail got engaged to actress Emmy Rossum. They had been dating for two years. He had directed her in his first movie, Comet. They got married on May 28, 2017. They have two children, a daughter born in 2021 and a son born in 2023.

Sam Esmail speaks Arabic fluently. He even gave part of his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in Arabic.

Sam Esmail has social anxiety disorder. He has said that his wife, Emmy Rossum, has helped him a lot with it. He lives in both New York City and Los Angeles.

Sam Esmail's Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Sam Esmail para niños