Samantha Stark

Samantha Stark

History

Samantha Stark is a Director/Producer on "The New York Times Presents” on FX and Hulu. She previously worked in the same capacity on "The Weekly," the first iteration of the series. Before that she was a staff video journalist at the NYT, where she shot and edited short documentaries and video series. She loves stories that celebrate life and has been lucky enough to film with thrilling people. Some of her favorites include: a teenager who let scientists rewrite her DNA, a clothes dyer who forged passports so children could escape persecution, a 92-year-old entering a beauty pageant for the first time... and, of course, Britney Spears. Samantha is an Emmy and World Press Photo award winner and a Peabody award finalist. She also taught video storytelling at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. “Framing Britney Spears” is her first feature-length documentary.

Profile

Samantha Stark

Movies

Controlling Britney Spears
Controlling Britney Spears
Director
Britney Spears has said that her conservatorship had become “an oppressive and controlling tool against her”. This New York Times investigation reveals much of how it worked, including an intense surveillance apparatus that monitored every move she made.
Framing Britney Spears
Framing Britney Spears
Producer
Her rise was a global phenomenon. Her downfall was a cruel national sport. People close to Britney Spears and lawyers tied to her conservatorship now reassess her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life.
Framing Britney Spears
Framing Britney Spears
Director
Her rise was a global phenomenon. Her downfall was a cruel national sport. People close to Britney Spears and lawyers tied to her conservatorship now reassess her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life.
They Get Brave
They Get Brave
Producer
The Times gave doctors and nurses cameras to document their lives at the height of the corona crisis in New York City. What they capture reveals an extraordinary resolve in the face of a profound breakdown in the health-care system.
The Forger
The Forger
Director
Adolfo Kaminsky started saving lives when chance and necessity made him a master forger. As a teenager, he became a member of the French Resistance and used his talent to save the lives of thousands of Jews. The Forger is a well-crafted origin story of a real-life superhero.
The New Black
The New Black
Associate Producer
The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community's institutional pillar-the black church and reveals the Christian right wing's strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda. The New Black takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets and provides a seat at the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.
The New Black
The New Black
Executive Producer
The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community's institutional pillar-the black church and reveals the Christian right wing's strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda. The New Black takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets and provides a seat at the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.