About Samantha McDanel

​

Samantha McDanel is an accomplished Texas-based filmmaker from the surrounding areas of Dallas, Texas and now resides in Austin, Texas. 

A renaissance woman, Samantha produces and directs high-concept short films, works as a camera operator and editor for commercial and reality tv, and is a well-known beauty and SFX makeup artist for film and photo among the North Texas and ATX community. She has held various roles in film and video production on short and feature projects.

​

Over the years, Samantha has broken ground on the DFW film scene with a successful festival run with her previous high-concept short film ‘Pageant Perfect’, a film that has traveled all across Texas and the United States for screenings and festivals and won several awards, including an Up & Coming Filmmaker Award.

Samantha is a Radio/Television/Film graduate from the University of North Texas, where she focused on writing, directing, and editing.

While writing feature scripts to someday produce and direct, Samantha continues to work on numerous projects in diverse roles and join in workshops to hone her skills.

She is always looking for ways to grow as a filmmaker and artist, finding all the ways to express herself and her mind. She hopes to pivot into animation in the future for some of these projects.

Drawing and writing poetry is another outlet for her in her journey of staying open and vulnerable as an artist.

​

Samantha focuses on stories that reflect on the relationships and dynamics between people within the bounds of dream-like worlds, where naturalism and surrealism meet.

Samantha's ultimate goals are:

1. to become a well-established woman filmmaker in the film industry

2. to own and operate a film production company,

making short and feature films and creating workshops for young filmmakers

3. to explore story-telling through different perspectives and help audience members open up within themselves