Samuel Leighton-Dore.

Artist, Writer, Director, Co-Founder.

He/Him.

Samuel Leighton-Dore is a screenwriter, director and interdisciplinary visual artist based on the Gold Coast, Queensland. He is the co-creator and writer of 10-episode coming-of-age animation Willy, the latest animated series from Ludo Studio, the production company behind world-wide phenomenon Bluey. In 2023 his animated horror-comedy series Other Half (co-creator, writer) was selected as one of the projects to be developed as part of the prestigious Untapped program run by Screen Australia and Australians In Film, where he received mentorship from LA-based writer and showrunner Jordan Young (Bojack Horseman, Close Enough, Drawn Together). He is currently writing his first live-action feature film about the relationship between food and queer domesticity in the 1960s. In 2023 he wrote, directed and co-produced animated sketch Sensitive Gym Bros, the first in an ongoing series of short animations bringing heart and humour to evolving ideas of Australian masculinity. He’s passionate about telling authored stories that are equal parts emotionally intelligent and silly, with a particular love for young adult comedy and complex queer, neurodiverse characters.


Samuel’s live action short film Showboy (writer, director) screened in competition at Sydney Film Festival in 2014, before winning Best Short at Melbourne Queer Film Festival and screening internationally at the Iris Prize. He won Visual Artist of the Year at the 2019 Honour Awards, where he was recognised for his ongoing creative contributions to Australia’s LGBTIQ+ community. He has released two books, How To Be A Big Strong Man (2019, Smith Street Books, Simon & Schuster) and Wow It’s All A Lot (2023, HarperCollins). He has had four solo exhibitions, with significant artworks acquired by the Gold Coast City and Tweed Regional Gallery collections and featured on the cover of the Journal of Australian Ceramics. He has written and produced animated campaigns for organisations including The Man Cave, ReachOut, Prepster and the University of Queensland.

Samuel is represented by Camerons Management.

For screen and literary enquiries, please contact Jonah Klein via email or on (02) 9319 7199.

For art or general enquiries, please get in touch with Samuel via the contact page.

“If toxic masculinity is a virus, then the big-hearted, happily subversive, technicolour-hug that is Samuel Leighton-Dore’s art is surely the antidote.”

— Benjamin Law

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2019 — “Fragile Masculinity, Handle With Care” m2 Gallery, Sydney.

2019 — “Crying In The Leagues Club” aMBUSH Gallery, Canberra.

2023 — “Wow It’s All A Lot” Wedge Gallery, Sydney.

2023 — “Wow It’s All A Lot” Anthea Polson Gallery, Gold Coast.

2024 — “Looking Back There Were Signs” Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah.

2024 — “Unproduced Screenplay” Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018 — “Emotions R Gay” Intersect Space, Sydney.

2019 — “Crossing Boarders” aMBUSH Gallery, Sydney.

2019 — “Emerge: Sixth Edition” Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne.

2020 — “North Queensland Ceramic Awards” Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville.

2021 — “Solid Gold” HOTA, Gold Coast.

2022 — “North Queensland Ceramic Awards” Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville.

2023 — “Siri, Can You Die Of A Broken Heart?” Artspace, Sydney.

2023 — “Life In Colour,” Sketch Gallery, Sydney.

2023 — “HOTA Collects: Material World” HOTA, Gold Coast.

2023 — “Mind, Matter, Thoughts On Form,” QCA Galleries, Brisbane.

2024 — “Cloud-Based Fantasy” Paradise Gloss Public Art Installation, Brisbane City Council.

2024 — “North Queensland Ceramic Awards” Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville.

Awards

2019 — Visual Artist of the Year, ACON Honour Awards, Sydney.

Publications

Books

2019 — “How to be a Big Strong Man” Smith Street / Simon & Schuster.

2019 - “Growing Up Queer in Australia: ‘The Watering Hole’” Black Inc.

2023 — “Wow It’s All A Lot” HarperCollins.

Film

“Gotcha” — Jessica Mauboy Music Video, 2012 (Director)

“Showboy” Short Film, 2016 (Writer, Director)

“The Dateables Ball” Short Documentary, 2017 (Director, Producer, Editor)

“Sensitive Gym Bros” Short Animation, 2023 (Writer, Director)

Showboy: “Starring Lucas Pittaway (Snowtown), Samuel’s short film Showboy (prod. Diana Burnett, 2014) won Best Short at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival in 2015, before screening in competition at Sydney Film Festival and The Iris Prize in Wales.

Showboy tells the story of Julian, a closeted teenager battling to support his widowed father by performing drag shows at a local cabaret bar.”

Media & Presentations

Semi Permanent 2023

Samuel presented a keynote about the joys and challenges of having a varied creative practice at the 2023 Semi Permanent festival.

The Drum, ABC 2023

Samuel appeared as a guest on an August episode of The Drum where he spoke with host Julia Baird about his new book and the role art can play in navigating mental health challenges.

Creative Mornings Brisbane 2023

Samuel discussed his new book ‘Wow It’s All A Lot’ and his varied creative practice with Gold Coast ceramic artist Michelle Le Plastrier.

Queerstories

In 2021, Samuel shared a countdown of the key moments from Australian 90s and 00s popculture that helped shape the person he would become for the podcast Queerstories.

The Moth

In 2017, Samuel won The Moth StorySlam, later coming runner-up in the annual GrandSlam storytelling event. In his story, Samuel finds out the secret of a family member and he doesn't know if he should tell someone about it. On the one hand, he thinks he may be doing the family member a favour. On the other, he may be getting them into a whole lot of trouble! Samuel told this story at January's Sydney Moth Story Slam. The theme of the event was 'risk'.

In Conversation with Alain de Botton

Visual artist and writer Samuel Leighton-Dore chats to one of his favourite writers, Alain de Botton, about love and relationships.