Samuel Leighton-Dore is a screenwriter, director and multidisciplinary visual artist based on the Gold Coast, Queensland. He is the co-creator and writer of 10-episode coming-of-age animation Willy, the latest animated series from Ludo Studio, the production company behind world-wide phenomenon Bluey. In 2023 his animated horror-comedy series Other Half (co-creator, writer) was selected as one of the projects to be developed as part of the prestigious Untapped program run by Screen Australia and Australians In Film, where he received mentorship from LA-based writer and showrunner Jordan Young (Bojack Horseman, Close Enough, Drawn Together). He is currently writing his first live-action feature film about the relationship between food and queer domesticity in the 1960s. In 2023 he wrote, directed and co-produced animated sketch Sensitive Gym Bros, the first in an ongoing series of short animations bringing heart and humour to evolving ideas of Australian masculinity. He’s passionate about telling authored stories that are equal parts emotionally intelligent and silly, with a particular love for young adult comedy and complex queer, neurodiverse characters.

Samuel’s live action short film Showboy (writer, director) screened in competition at Sydney Film Festival in 2014, before winning Best Short at Melbourne Queer Film Festival and screening internationally at the Iris Prize. He won Visual Artist of the Year at the 2019 Honour Awards, where he was recognised for his ongoing creative contributions to Australia’s LGBTIQ+ community. He has released two books, How To Be A Big Strong Man (2019, Smith Street Books, Simon & Schuster) and Wow It’s All A Lot (2023, HarperCollins). He has had four solo exhibitions, with significant artworks acquired by the Gold Coast City and Tweed Regional Gallery collections and featured on the cover of the Journal of Australian Ceramics. He has written and produced animated campaigns for organisations including The Man Cave, ReachOut, Prepster and the University of Queensland.