Synthetic Pictures, which has bases of operation in Los Angeles and Austin, has taken on North American commercial and branded content representation for docu-style storytelling and international action/adventure director Sam French. 

French currently lives in Los Angeles. Previously, he spent five years in Afghanistan where he wrote and directed the Academy Award-nominated narrative short film, Buzkashi Boys. Most recently, his feature-length documentary, With This Breath I Fly, about two heroic Afghan women fighting for freedom after being imprisoned for “moral crimes,” has played in more than 20 festivals worldwide, and won 10 awards, including the Special Jury Award at Salem Film Festival, the Spirit of Activism Award at SF DocFest, and the Audience Award at Austin Film Festival. International humanitarian and Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie signed on as executive producer of the film. 

“I have known Sam and his powerful directing work for some time,” said Synthetic executive producer Allison Smith. “I had been following his journey with his most recent groundbreaking feature doc, With This Breath I Fly, and was just floored by his bravery and honesty as a filmmaker. He’s a director who seeks authenticity and cross-cultural connections that have the potential to really elevate work in our industry of commercial and branded content storytelling.”  

French has also directed episodes of the Emmy-nominated documentary series Religion of Sports, the Emmy-nominated series Why We Fight, and the Red Bull series, All In, and Life of Kai. His award-winning directing work has appeared on HBO, BBC, CNN, Channel 4 News, Al Jazeera, National Geographic and many other broadcast outlets.  

“The timing was finally right for us to start working together,” said French, who has been friends with Smith and Synthetic owner Justin Corsbie for several years in Los Angeles. “I’ve always been impressed with the work Synthetic Pictures produces, and I couldn’t imagine a better home. Allison and Justin have as much passion as I do for the art of storytelling, and I’m looking forward to bringing my character-focused docu-style approach to the company so we can collaborate on creating compelling narratives that connect with audiences.” 

While signing on with Synthetic is his first official foray into commercial representation, French will continue his work in both documentary and scripted features. He is currently in early production on the documentary Dominion, which follows a new generation of evangelical climate activists fighting against their parents’ identity politics to save God’s creation, as well as other narrative feature writing and additional entertainment projects. 

Founded in 2002, Synthetic Pictures is a boutique production company that has produced work for clients including Ford, Toyota, Starbucks, Shell, Amazon, Samsung, Nissan, Dairy Queen, Burger King, P&G, Kellogg’s, and Vegas Tourism. Synthetic’s indie feature film, Hard Luck Love Song, was released in theaters nationwide in fall 2021 by Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate. French joins Synthetic’s diverse roster of live action directors, accompanied by post and visual effects division SP/FX.