Sam Lahoud is a scriptwriter, a director, a producer and a script consultant. He started his career in Film and Theater in 1996, and since then he has written, directed and produced Theater Plays, Films and Documentaries, which received many national and international recognitions and awards, and his first feature film “Waynon” (Void) was the Lebanese official submission for the Academy Awards 2015 (Oscars) for Best Foreign Language Film. Sam is active in cross cultural productions, and is permanently working on different film projects. Sam is the Founding Director of the NDU International Film Festival since 2007, winner of the 2015 Social Economic Award for Youth Empowerment. Founding Chair of Beirut Film Society; Founder, Director of Beirut International Women Film Festival. Founder, and Program Director of the Lebanese Film Festival in Canada. Member of the National Film Committee at the Lebanese Ministry of Culture. Founding member of the Emile Chahine Foundation for Cinema Culture, and of Film Festivals Cinergy; Board Member at the Silk Road Film Festival - Dublin, Ireland; previous board member at the Asian World Film Festival - Los Angeles, USA, and at Monaco Charity Film Festival – Monaco from 2008 till 2012; serves as jury member in various local and international film festivals and competitions. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Media and Film at Notre Dame University – Louaize, where he served as Founding Director of Communications from 2014 till 2017, Chairperson of the Department of Media Studies from 2012 till 2014, and founded and headed the Division of Audio Visual Arts from 2006 until 2012. Mr. Lahoud is currently preparing his PhD in Media Studies; He holds a MA in Media Studies - Electronic Journalism and Public Relations from NDU, a MA in Scriptwriting from Université Saint Joseph (IESAV) and a BA in Communication Arts, Radio, Television and Film from NDU. Mr. Lahoud has organized, participated and presented panels, workshops, and seminars on Lebanese cinema, directing actors, scriptwriting and sacred drama. Since 1996 he taught music, photography, and arts education. He currently teaches courses in scriptwriting, directing actors, directing techniques, and media laws and ethics.