Sam Doust

ABOUT ME

I am an experienced creative director and a multi-disciplined digital creative, with a life-long commitment to the interdisciplinary practices of the humanities. I work as a visual artist, writer/director, executive producer and project lead, using a broad array of hands-on skills, with an autonomous work ethic that includes a strong commitment to knowledge sharing and collaboration. I’m based in Melbourne, Australia.

Since 2021, I’ve been Creative Director with the experiential design and technology company Art Processors, where I am a creative practitioner, manager and strategic leader across multiple projects in Australia. Art Processors works with cultural and tourism organisations to invent new realities of human experience.

CAREER FLASHBACK

My career spans more than twenty years in the digital and physical arts, cultural and education sectors of Australia. In that time, I’ve conceived of and led public service projects, such as ABC iview, which have provoked change and disruption in consumer and industry behaviour; other projects have been awarded for their cultural, innovative and industry significance - from large digital and placemaking projects, to exhibitions and heritage interpretation works. Throughout my career I’ve worked both independently as well as leading highly creative teams.

An early adopter of the first Adobe creative applications, I developed an affinity for the creative possibilities inherent in digital design principles which gave me a fast start in the rapid transformation of the visual design, broadcast and agency sectors. As a student, I regularly freelanced as a commercial artist and designer, while completing a BA (hons) in Film, Video and the Photographic Arts, at the University of Arts in London.

After working as an art and creative director in London and Sydney, I joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2001 as a hybrid digital producer, designer/developer, working across multiple divisions, including News and Current Affairs, where I created the first interactive editions of Four Corners, the country’s premiere investigative journalism program.

In 2007, I was made Creative Director of Strategic Development for the newly created Innovation Division, leading projects that identified the ABC as a major innovator in digital content. These included ABC iview, The Opera House Project, Bluebird AR and Gallipoli: the first day. For my work on iview and Four Corners, I received the Talbot Award for outstanding contribution to the ABC. And for Gallipoli: the first day, the inaugural AACTA Award for Screen Innovation.

On leaving ABC in 2014, I continued working with the broadcaster for several years, delivering a major digital education project, Days in Conflict, while also working with Sydney Opera House Trust on a series of commissions and curatorial works. While self-employed, I continued to manage and collaborate with artists, developers, engineers and producers, expanding my creative practice network.

In 2017 I was invited to speak at TEDx on the tools of digital storytelling and have also been a speaker and lecturer at conferences, universities and events, including the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), UTS and UNSW, the Australian Screenwriters Conference, and the Melbourne Writers Festival.

I have been awarded as a writer, director, producer, editor, graphic designer, motion graphics artist, executive producer and project director and I’m a professional member of AACTA and the Australian Writers Guild. In late 2020 I was appointed to the Heritage Consultancy Panel at the Sydney Opera House.

works: 2015-2024

2024: The Future and Other Fictions - exhibition partners, ACMI. Role: co-Creative Lead.

2024: White Bay Power Station Tour. Role: Creative Director.

2022-23: Hidden: Seven Children Saved - Good Design and Muse Award winning exhibition on Melbourne Holocaust Survivors. Role: Co-Creative Director.

2022-23: The People’s House; Sydney Opera House at 50 - National Trust and Muse Award winning exhibition in collaboration with museums of History NSW and Sydney Opera House. Role: Creative Director.

2022: From the Sails: Light Years - Fast Company Innovation, Good Design and Muse Award winning film projected on the western sails for the 50th anniversary of the building. Role: Commissioned artist.

2022: Pentridge Prison Tours - Good Design and Muse Award winning heritage interpretation for National Trust (Vic). Role: Creative Director.

2020: Sydney Opera House - the official guide book (1st and 2nd editions). Commissioned by Sydney Opera House: the history of the iconic building and its legacy as a world-renown performing arts venue. Role: co-author and image editor.

2019: John Coburn’s Tapestries at Sydney Opera House - physical and digital exhibition curation and filmmaking. Role: Curator (writer, designer, editor).

2018: The Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House - physical and digital exhibition curation and filmmaking. Role: Curator (writer, designer, editor).

2017-19: Permanent video works onsite at Sydney Opera House: The Lounge, Welcome Centre North and South Wall digital murals. Role: Creative Director, Motion Designer.

2016: Sydney Opera House on Google Arts & Culture - 50 exhibits and 360 film. Role: Writer/Director, designer, curator.

2015: Sydney Opera House, official tours multilingual films. Role: Writer/Director/Editor.

2014-2019: Days in Conflict - multi award-winning interactive documentary on WWI. Role: Writer/Director/Designer.