Sam Southward: A Few Of My Favourite Things

Across a career spanning animation, live action, and the space between, Sam Southward has built a process rooted in character, humour and detail.

The BAFTA-nominated director and writer, represented globally by Not To Scale, is known for blending absurdity with social commentary, creating films that balance escapism with observation.

Here, he shares the objects that sit alongside that process, from early sketches to analogue artefacts and long-held habits.

The Sketchbooks

Every film I have ever made started out in one of these books as thumbnails.

For me it’s the most direct way of getting my ideas out of my head and starting to work visually.

When a film is finished, I love to go back and see how it developed, from the very first sketches to the finished film, and see what elements made it all the way to the final cut.

In the automation of filmmaking era, I am learning to love the process even more than ever.

The Record Bag

Along with filmmaking, my other passion has always been music and a big part of that is DJing.

This record bag has been with me to every radio station, club and rave that I have played at over the last 25 years.

It can feel a little like living a double life.

There have been times when I’ve gone directly from a meeting with a big global brand to playing in a warehouse in Tottenham.

Quite regularly I bump into some of the same people on the dance floor.

The bag itself was originally borrowed from my brother back in the late 90s, but I think he might have forgotten about it now.

The Polaroids

Like a lot of people, my parents had a Polaroid camera when I was growing up and I was always fascinated by it.

Since my teenage years I have carried a Polaroid with me.

I love the quality of instant film and the 1:1 frame.

I have watched Polaroid come back into and go out of fashion about five times now, but I am glad that the film is currently easy to get hold of again.

The Hydration

My second home is Tokyo, and when I am not there I try to stay hydrated like I am.

Sometimes when it’s sunny and I am on the Windrush line with a green tea, I can just about pretend it’s the Toei Subway.

The Animation Cels

I love collecting animation cels.

Some of these were bought in the early days of the internet before the prices skyrocketed.

Not only are they incredible pieces of art, they are also fragments of time and slices of stories.

As someone who has predominantly worked digitally in my career, I am envious of working with a process that produces so many physical artefacts.

As we enter the age of AI, which so far seems to be cheapening many art forms, I think analogue will see a resurgence.

More and more, the process itself will be seen as an integral part of the story.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that with filmmaking the process is not just a means to an end, but what gives the end its meaning.

I wonder if you can still buy cel paint.