Sam Roudman

Background

About Sam Roudman

I'm a producer, writer, and researcher with extensive experience in television, podcasts, and journalism. Pitch me a project, I can probably help. RECENT WORK: Research, new season of Euphoria for HBO//Producer, Factually! Podcast//Writer, video essays for Adam Conover RECENT//ONGOING: I was a coproducer on Netflix's The G Word. Produced by the Obamas' Higher Ground Productions, the show is an informational comedy exploration of the US government and all its historical and bureaucratic baggage. I led the research team, developed material for most of the show's scripted segments, and wrote treatments for entire episodes. I reviewed scripts to make sure they were rhetorically and factually airtight, and hopefully still funny. I'm also a research consultant for HBO. When the network develops a project based on a true story, or one evoking a certain era (think Chernobyl), I work with showrunners and executives to provide basic material to the project, then analyze scripts for accuracy. Sometimes I dig through the scholarship and build databases of archival material and elaborate outlines, other times I’m searching for that one unique detail to build a scene around, or delivering an animated Zoom lecture. I've done similar work for 20th Century Studios. I've produced the podcast Factually! with Adam Conover, since its inception. My work has helped define the direction of the show, which features long interviews with major academics, journalists and activists for a popular audience. I find and pitch potential guests, conduct outreach, and develop prep material for the interview. When an interview is done I write the introductory essay/monologue in collaboration with the host. After over 160 episodes, I've developed a broad and deep network of experts, spanning most academic fields, and including MacArthur geniuses, Pulitzer winners, and a couple White House officials. PRIOR WORK: My television work began on two seasons of the informational comedy series Adam Ruins Everything, where I developed segments and episode concepts. I also worked as a researcher on Drunk History, developing and writing treatments for segments. Before television, I spent years a journalist, covering tech, science, and politics. My features appeared in places like New Republic, BuzzFeed News, and VICE. I also helped report and research a book length investigation into the killing of Eric Garner. I am a sucker for a rabbit hole.