A Brief History of Sam

 
1975- Sam Mossler is born with every intention of leading a pragmatic and moderate life and never referring to himself in the third person. 1979- Writes first masterpiece, “The Eagle and the Ark”, a salty modern retelling of Noah’s Ark. Kept under wraps by parents owing to its being politically provocative and generally illegible. 1980- Awarded the role of a lifetime, Peter Rabbit, but complains that the role lacks the complexity and pathos of Mr. McGregor. A character actor is born. 1984- Begins formal theatre training at Florida Studio Theatre. Under the tutelage of Kate Alexander, he learns about emotional accessibility, subtlety, and earnest process. Under the tutelage of Dana Helfrich and Kris McGaha he learns about pratfalls, double takes, triple takes, spit takes, slow burns, and double talk. 1989-1993- Attends the Sarasota School of Visual and Performing Arts. Learns a lot. Plays mostly old men and priests. 1993- Enters Florida State University. Things get serious. 1996- Spends a semester in London studying the classics. Begins to dream in iambic pentameter. Gets a gig singing with a Dixieland band. 1997- Graduates from Florida State University with a BFA in Acting and double minors in English and Binge Drinking. 1998- First glorious regional gig. “Death of a Salesman” with Gil Rogers, Jacqueline Brooks, and Apollo Dukakis. 1998- Moves to New York City, begins the slow process of growing into his ‘type’. 1998-2001- Shakespeare, Chekhov, Brecht, Simon, Barry, etc. in New York, Connecticut, Indiana, Florida, etc. Full immersion in the life of a stage actor. With plenty of bartending in between. 2002- Sam’s Chekhovian satire “The Ghost of Firs Nikolaich” is produced in three separate venues in New York City. 2004- Nascent gray hairs and wrinkles begin to emerge. His ‘type’ approaching fruition, he decides to venture through a few smaller markets en route to huge market, Los Angeles. 2005-2008- Teaches playwriting and acting workshops at public schools across the state of Florida. Unsurprisingly, he learns far more than he imparts. 2008- Arrives in Los Angeles...just in time for the recession. 2009-2014 Nascent gray hairs and wrinkles become less nascent, as does his muse. Completes three screenplays, a stage play, countless shorts, and one or two love letters. 2015 Sam’s screenplay “Og’s Utopia” gets him an invite (and a Producer’s badge!) to the prestigious Austin Film Festival where it soars clear to the semi-finals in the comedy category. 2016 Sam’s next screenplay, “Walter Ruddy in Repose or The Green Flash”, makes the second round at AFF but ultimately lands, With a resounding thud, Positive notes include words like “engaging”, “whimsical” and “Wes Anderson-esque”. Negative notes include words like “drooling”, “pretentious”, “unsalable”. 2017 Sam, like so many Americans, spends the first few months of 2017 in hibernation, not entirely certain that reality as he (or anyone) knew it was as it was. January and February are spent playing Candy Crush. Then Sam writes another screenplay, “The Solfeggio Project”. Someone on the Blacklist says it has “an evocative, tremendously smart premise” and is a “formidable, affecting work from a decidedly unique author” and gives it a 7 rating. Then someone else on the Blacklist says “with a rewrite, the script has a lot of potential” and gives it a 6, And yet another Blacklister says “it might be a bit too political for the risk averse major studios” But the year isn’t a total wash. Sam reaches level 338 on Candy Crush and loses thirty pounds. 2018 Having adapted to this proto-dystopia, Sam channels his inner Bourdain and appears as Chef George in Will Snyder’s “How to Use a Knife” . He also adds another Type-A New Yorker to his resume as Lawrence Garfinkle in “Other Peoples‘ Money”. 2019 Started the year in good company! “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” at Florida Studio Theatre. Fed his soul teaching playwriting and acting to children and adults. Spent a lot of time behind the bar creating craft cocktails and making more Old Fashioneds than anyone should ever have to make. 2020 The year was oozing with profundity. “The Nether” by Jen Haley, who apparently he partied with in L.A. but never spoke to. Then the titular role in Jeffrey Sweet’s “Kunstler”. And then the goddam Coronavirus. THIS is why we can’t have nice things.