Helen Sam is a freelance producer/production consultation based in Los Angeles. She recently produced a successful launch of a lifestyle website for Lexus. Prior to freelancing, Helen worked as the Associate Producer for the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, produced by the Independent Television Service (ITVS). She had the opportunity to work closely with many well-known documentary filmmakers and their films (The World According to Sesame Street, The Weather Underground, and A Lion in the House). She represented ITVS and Independent Lens on the national level at panels and conferences (SXSW and AFI Fest).

Helen has participated in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Festival as a feature film programmer, the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Golden Gate Awards as the panel chair for the Documentary Feature and Television Documentary competition, and the United Nations Film Festival screening panel. Her knowledge and experience in documentary and television production, in particular producing for the PBS network, has given her opportunities to mentor emerging documentary filmmakers and to comfortably navigate the often hectic environment of documentary film and television production.

Helen holds a BA in Sociology with an emphasis in Media and Mass Communications from UC Santa Cruz. She is currently working on her Masters in Library and Information Science degree at San Jose State University