Sam Judd
Speaker
Sam Judd was born in Leeds in 1997. He was completely able-bodied until the age of four when he had a brain stem stroke. He is now a full-time wheelchair user and speaks with the assistance of an electronic communication aid called a Liberator. Sam has dedicated his life to disabled empowerment through creative expression.
In 2019 he graduated from The Northern Film School with a degree in filmmaking. He is a published writer with articles in Little White Lies, and Sight and Sound magazines. He also has worked as a BFI Young Programmer and he was on the BFI Film Critic Mentorship Programme in 2021. Sam is currently in pre-production for a short film called “My Friend Orson Welles” which he has written and will direct and produce across March and April 2025. He hopes to then develop it into a feature film.
Sam additionally is an award-winning stand up comedian, even though he prefers the term “sit down” and co-runs a BBC Comedy supported disabled-led comedy night called “You Can Laugh, You Know.”