HELLO! I am filmmaker, writer, and radio producer based in Los Angeles. Previously, I used the name Sam Greenspan.

I am an MFA student in the film directing program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). My thesis film, FORTY YEARS IN THE DESERT, is a documentary fantasia exploring the queer Jewish imaginary (advisor: Juan Pablo González).

I wrote, directed, and edited IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MACHINE (starring Paul Outlaw), a dance film parable about “the West”’s urge to destroy that which sustains us. The film is currently in post-production.

I am currently developing PLUMBING STORY, a feature documentary about the politics of where we pee.

I wrote and directed THIS IS NOT WHAT WE PAID YOU FOR (starring Puppett), an absurdist black comedy in which a failed podcaster is pitching a TV show about historical art shenanigans—and refuses to stop pitching even when they are abducted by a right-wing militia.

I wrote a feature screenplay called NOTAFLOF, about the lives of four roommates in Oakland, California, trying to throw one last house show before they get evicted—all taking place on the eve of Trump’s first inauguration. (“NOTAFLOF” is an acronym, probably originating in the Bay Area DIY scene, which stands for “no one turned away for lack of funds.”)

I am the creator of BELLWETHER, a podcast of speculative journalism. Widely anticipated and hailed as groundbreaking upon its launch, BELLWETHER reports stories about our relationship with machines—told within the frame of a sci-fi radio serial, set in the future, looking back at our time.

I was a founding producer at 99% Invisible, one of the most critically and commercially successful podcasts of all time. I have also helped build and run numerous journalism podcasts, including Vice News Reports, The City (USA Today), Spacebridge (Radiotopia), and The TED Radio Hour (NPR).

I have taught radio at Stanford University, UnionDocs, New College of Florida, YR Media, The Writing Pad, and elsewhere.

I have mostly moved on from radio, though I do currently produce LA PODCAST, the best chat show in the entire world.

I have a B.A. (with honors) in anthropology from New College of Florida (RIP), and anticipate earning my M.F.A. in Film Directing/Production from UCLA in 2026. I studied documentary radio at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, and at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. A lifelong learner, I have taken coursework in Mandarin Chinese at Pasadena City College, German at the Goethe-Institut, and Brazilian Portuguese at the USDA Graduate School. Despite all of this, the most I ever learned about anything was studying dance at Ryan Heffington’s The Sweat Spot (also RIP), where I also briefly worked.

I am trans and nonbinary, and use they/them pronouns.

Let’s collaborate! os.greenspan [at] gmail.com.