Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam VerMerris.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started making films at 12 years old after being inspired by MacGyver, whose resourcefulness inspired more than just my first little short film. I continued making these little films with my friends, from horror to war movies, until COVID hit. Here I learned new skills – I started making video game playthroughs, learning how to edit, and then made things like Minecraft Documentaries to work on my storytelling! Come highschool, I joined the TV program at my school and learned how to organize shoots, people, and equipment. The big thing was equipment, however, as I started using their cameras to make my own short films – by senior year I felt ready to make a feature, which I did the entirety of my senior year, finishing and releasing the film in October of 2025. By then, I realized that the next generation of filmmakers were going to be people that built their own audiences, so I started my social media career in full force in the Fall of 2025 – fast forward to now, I’ve built a profile with 14k followers, I’ve made another short film called Rosemary, and I’m currently working on my next feature film, The Other Side of Midnight.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not. I decided to stay home from college and go right to work on my career – none of my friends did that. I spent months working a dead-end job in Rockford, hating most of it, then going home to see my friends hanging out with each other, looking like I had made a terrible decision to not go to school. But I knew school wasn’t for me, and that I was going to make this work, so I doubled down on trying to get PA gigs, editing gigs, podcast gigs, whatever gig I could get to be able to quit. But it just wasn’t happening.
Until December. The slowest months of the year for a restaurant were approaching and I absolutely could not imagine working through them. So when I got the opportunity to go down to Florida, film a documentary for $500 and then edit it, you best believe I took it. The experience was amazing, and I came back to edit for the rest of December. Taking a whole month off from that job made me realize I could absolutely quit it, have more free time to work on my dreams and still make the same, if not more amount of money by pursuing videography and editing as a side gig.
Of course, the struggles of loneliness, being on a totally different path of life from my peers is still rough. I do feel like I skipped the “fun” part of my life at times, but then I realize I’ve had a lot of fun, and it’s only when I compare mine to someone else’s totally different, and much more expensive version of fun that I feel bad about it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a filmmaker first and foremost, but I specialize in directing. I’d say I’m known for making a feature film in highschool and helping people step foot into the film industry – those things are what I’m most proud of! I’m different because I’m young, I’m always going headlong into something that might just a bit too much for me, and I am making my way into a industry I started with 0 connections to.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Networking is simple for me – don’t be embarrassed. I love talking to people, so I think that naturally translates to being able to shamelessly send out emails and texts asking to get to know people and hopefully develop a relationship that could lead to work!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samversea/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCspxUd0bh-wuqv5kizC3izw
