Meet Sam!
FINALIST - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Embedded Files
Sam Cochran
Sam Cochran
Feature Track
Action / Thriller / Elevated Genre
BIO:
Sam is a visual storyteller originally from Sacramento. His writing is shaped by three years of acting experience, eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps as both an enlisted and commissioned officer — including a deployment to Afghanistan — as well as a background in psychology and business.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, an MBA, and spent four years in corporate America managing online sales (e-commerce). He credits UCLA and its writing workshops with sharpening his craft, particularly their emphasis on action-driven subtext and the ability to rewrite quickly under tight deadlines.
Sam writes grounded action, thrillers, and high-concept comedy, blending authenticity with sharp pacing and emotionally resonant stakes. He optioned and adapted the New York Times bestseller "The Last Stand of Fox Company," which led to literary representation, and is currently developing additional projects in that vein.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
DARKHORSE: Official Selection — Rebel Seed Studio Military Story Showcase (2026)
Showcase Scripts:
WEAPON OF OPPORTUNITY - Original Screenplay- Thriller/Action - Finalist
When a woman discovers her novelist husband is really a secret agent, she’s forced into his covert war against a rogue arms dealer — risking everything to protect their child and rebuild a marriage nearly destroyed by the truth.
PLANET OF THE THIRST - Original Screenplay- Comedy/Sci-Fi
A washed-up celebrity sex therapist must outsmart a seductive alien queen whose viral OnlyCans empire is turning Earth’s men into love-struck zombies — pushing the planet toward an apocalyptic battle of the sexes.
THE OPEN BOAT - Adapted Screenplay- Drama/Thriller/Indie
After reading about a fatal mountain lion attack, a traumatized Costa Rican reporter is sent north to investigate — only to survive a shipwreck and confront the same brutal indifference of nature he set out to document.
Non-Showcase Scripts:
Features:
THE LAST STAND OF FOX COMPANY (130pp adaptation):
Vastly outnumbered in sub-zero temperatures, Captain Barber and his 246 Marines must hold Toktong Pass — a narrow mountain road and the sole escape route for 10,000 U.N. troops trapped at the Chosin Reservoir.
DARKHORSE (108pp):
A quiet soul searching for purpose deploys to Iraq, where his Marine unit — Darkhorse — is ordered to clear a city full of heavily-armed insurgents led by the emir of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
PHISHING FOR TROUBLE (90pp):
After a wild house party kills his parents’ prized exotic fish, a Miami teen phishes his corrupt principal to fund replacements before his folks return from vacation and cut him out of the family business.
Q-TOWN
When a troubled Marine officer recalls forbidden events while training at Quantico, she and her twin sister uncover a covert military program manipulating twins to predict future wars — only to discover her ability to remember has marked them for elimination.
Television:
THE DOGFATHER (24pp English Teacher Spec):
When Morrison-Hensley High launches “Dog Week,” Evan’s commitment to tolerance is put to the test as his irrational fear of a Doberman spirals into public embarrassment, forcing him to confront his own biases — and the unresolved family baggage driving them.
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