ABOUT
Award-Winning Creative Leader | Builder of High-Performing Multi-Disciplinary Teams | Deep Expertise in Creative, Publishing & Commercial Strategy Across Entertainment, Gaming & Tech
I’m an award-winning creative and leader with over a decade of experience delivering bold, culturally resonant work for global brands including PlayStation, Universal Studios, Amazon Prime, Disney, AMD, Samsung, and Revolut.
My background spans gaming, entertainment, tech, and consumer products, and I’ve worked across both B2C and B2B, leading creative in-house, within integrated agencies, and across global markets. I specialise in brand storytelling, visual direction, team leadership, campaign development, and creative strategy, all fuelled by curiosity, collaboration, and craft.
Currently, I act as the de facto Creative Director and Head of Events, Experiential, and Innovation at Heaven Media, where I lead creative across 360 campaigns, live brand activations, and global pitches. I’ve scaled teams, launched award-winning projects, including World of Tanks Blitz x deadmau5 and Revolut x The Sidemen, and helped redefine how brands show up across digital, OOH, and experiential platforms.
At the heart of my leadership style is a passion for building environments where curiosity thrives, ideas are challenged and championed, and creativity is fuelled by collaboration and experimentation. My approach is simple: elevate everything. I care deeply about the details, the idea, and the impact, always pushing for work that doesn’t just meet expectations, but redefines or goes beyond them.
BRANDS - Microsoft, PlayStation, Xbox, Apple, Universal Studios, Jurassic Franchise, Ghostbuster Franchise, Sony, Formula 1, Nvidia, Barbasol, West Ham United, Disney+, Pokemon, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Trolls, Dreamworks, LG, FIFA, Samsung, Revolut, Coca Cola, AMD, Krispy Kreme, KFC, Cetaphil, Lenovo, Pizza Hut, Mercedes, Crypto, JBL.
RECOGNITION / AWARDS - The Drum Digital Advertising Awards, YouTube Works Awards, Best Trade Show Exhibit Awards, The Solution Awards, The Luxury Packaging Awards
PRODUCTS / CREDITS - Jurassic World Evolution, Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, Lost Winds, Tales from Deep Space, ScreamRide, Formula 1, Warhammer
TOOLS - MacOS & Windows - Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, Monday.com, Frame.io, JIRA
SKILLS HIGHLIGHTS
Over a decade of experience working on game, theatrical, film, home entertainment and consumer products within an integrated creative agency or in-house teams.
Award-winning expertise in visual direction, artistic innovation and brand positioning while excelling in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments.
Ability to concept and develop global original on-brand ideas, with an understanding of industry trends, best-in-class campaigns, and best practices.
Excellent conceptual and ideation skills, a flair for execution and an eye for detail. A brand guardian, ensuring the highest standards of creativity are always maintained.
A natural storyteller, directing and producing great cinematic, trailers or animation that audiences engage with a meticulous eye for granular detail.
An extensive understanding of marketing communications as a whole and what outputs are best suited to specific media platforms including gaming communities, audiences, and distribution platforms (Steam, PS, XB etc.).
Able to generate out-of-the-box ideas for pitches, including writing example scripts and working up or sourcing visuals to present them in the best possible light.
Great communication and presentation skills – Able to clearly & confidently present & sell work & opinions – providing clear rationale & justification when required.
Skilled in creating visuals & in-situ mock-ups, including OOH/DOOH, press, digital banners, paid social, and in-store POS.
Building and managing teams, establishing employee career growth, leading cross-functional team collaboration, and providing constructive feedback with a proven record of success in team motivation with a 100% retention rate.
EXPERIENCE
HEAD OF CREATIVE
HEAVEN MEDIA
2022 -CURRENT
Heading up all things creative! (Creative/Design/Production/Events/Experimental/Innnovation)
I lead all creative, design, and production efforts globally at Heaven Media, acting as the Creative Director across all major pitches and campaigns, and more recently, heading up our Events/Experiential division and innovation. I oversee high-impact creative and event work for leading brands like AMD, ASUS, PUBG, Ubisoft, Wargaming + many more, driving everything from big ideas and storytelling to execution across digital, social, OOH, and live activations.
Over the past two years, I’ve:
• Scaled and restructured the creative department, unifying design, video, and production under one high-performing team.
• Built the agency’s events and experiential offering from the ground up, now leading all creative ideation and curation across booths, live brand experiences and roadshows.
• Acted as Creative Director across global campaign pitches, bringing bold creative, cultural insight, and strategic thinking to every brief.
• Spearheaded the company rebrand, defining new core values, evolving the visual identity, and aligning the brand with its next phase of growth.
• Doubled retained client capacity, expanded internal capabilities, and introduced systems that drive quality, efficiency, and scalability.
• Pitched and delivered award-winning campaigns, including World of Tanks Blitz x deadmau5, recognised across multiple industry awards.
• Scaled and restructured the creative department, unifying design, video, and production under one high-performing team.
• Built the agency’s events and experiential offering from the ground up, now leading all creative ideation and curation across booths, live brand experiences and roadshows.
• Acted as Creative Director across global campaign pitches, bringing bold creative, cultural insight, and strategic thinking to every brief.
• Spearheaded the company rebrand, defining new core values, evolving the visual identity, and aligning the brand with its next phase of growth.
• Doubled retained client capacity, expanded internal capabilities, and introduced systems that drive quality, efficiency, and scalability.
• Pitched and delivered award-winning campaigns, including World of Tanks Blitz x deadmau5, recognised across multiple industry awards.
GROUP CREATIVE LEAD
KAIROS GROUP
2021 -2022
Heading up all things creative across the group!
I headed all things creative across the group, directing and managing our largest and award-winning projects to date. These included the Out-Of-Home (OOH) launch campaign for Plarium’s Mech Arena and a 360° campaign for the Revolut x Sidemen partnership, alongside long-standing clients like Samsung, AMD, Lenovo, LG, Pizza Hut, KFC, and many more.
By unifying the creative output across the business, I established the Creative Services team, bringing all creative work under one roof. I implemented a new production process and a streamlined briefing system, enhancing efficiency for stakeholders and clients. I also expanded the creative offerings by incorporating OOH and events, consistently elevating the quality of work to push the boundaries and retain client loyalty—all while growing the team in both size and skillset.
Brands I worked with: LG, FIFA, Samsung, Revolut, Coca-Cola, AMD, Krispy Kreme, KFC, Cetaphil, Lenovo, Pizza Hut, Mercedes, Crypto, JBL, Sandbox, Boost, Xbox, King, and many others.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR | ART DIRECTOR
FREELANCE
2020 -2021
Creative Direction and ideation for multiple national and international 360 campaigns.
Pokemon | Amazon Prime Video | Jurassic Franchise | Netflix | Trolls | Dreamworks
CREATIVE HEAD | LEAD | MANAGER
FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS PLC
2014 - 2020
Built and led the creative vision of a 24 person creative services team from the ground up to produce award-winning out-of-the-box concepts, dynamic visuals and innovative strategies to drive global awareness through advertisement campaigns, brand identity, merchandise, packaging, videos, trailers and websites across game, theatrical, home entertainment and consumer products.
HIGHLIGHTS
Excelled in the role as Creative Head | Lead | Manager, spearheading award-winning 360 creative direction, innovative design and development and hands-on artistic production.
Demonstrating award-winning expertise in visual direction, artistic innovation and brand positioning while excelling in fast-paced, deadline driven environments.
Establishing employee career growth, leading cross-functional team collaboration across publishing, demonstrating a proven record of success in team motivation with 100% retention, along with outstanding communication and collaboration with external talent.
Instrumental key partner in acquiring the licence for major global brands.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
CREATIVE DIRECTION & MARKETING CONSULTANCY
WEST HAM UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB
2015
CREATIVE DIRECTION & PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CLOUD DIGIAL MEDIA
2014 - 2015
PUBLICATIONS
What is the most important ingredient of creativity?
THE DRUM
The rise of non-endemic marketing: creativity is connecting brands with new audiences.
THE DRUM
RECOMMENDATIONS
Charley Grafton-Callaghan
MARKETING DIRECTOR - KAIROS GROUP
"Sam is one of the best creatives I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. With his in-depth knowledge and talent across creative services, his ability to get to the heart of a project and deliver extraordinary and inspiring creativity is second to none.
A true collaborator, he brings energy, passion, empathy and vision to everything he does, always ready to listen at every stage of the process and drive the very best results - a true dream to work with. I honestly look forward to every meeting we have and project I work with Sam and his teams on, as I know not only is the work going to be on point, we’ll have a great time along the way!"
Vanessa Powell
BRAND DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER - REVOLUT
I had the pleasure of working directly with Sam on the launch of the Revolut Sidemen campaign. As a client, he exceeded my expectations at every stage. His professionalism and dedication to the project were incredible. He was so responsive and understood what we were trying to achieve. Clearly really knowledgable Sam was really well placed to give great design advice that clearly comes from his wealth of experience. Thanks, Sam for making my life so much easier on what was a very tough project with multiple demands and short deadlines! Sam is so well-connected and a real asset as part of a large-scale project - his contacts came in handy more times than I can count so he’s also so much more than your regular creative. I hope I get the chance to work with Sam again soon and couldn't recommend him more!
Chad Young
DIRECTOR OF COMMERCIAL - FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS PLC
“Sam is a passionate and hardworking creative with a great eye for commercial assets, always looking and analysing from the consumer's perspective. As a manager, I've seen Sam build a large team of professional’s intent on delivering creative assets to the highest standard, all whilst under tight deadlines and with a smile on his face. I couldn't give higher praise!”
Jamie Hoey
MANAGING DIRECTOR, AU - CROUD
“I worked with Sam during several of the key game launches at Frontier as an agency partner. Sam was fantastic in helping to deliver top-quality assets for our paid media activity and above and beyond what we expected and had briefed in. His leadership and skill were a big factor in the success of our campaigns. I find Sam incredibly easy to work with and a genuinely nice character, it was an absolute pleasure to collaborate with him.”
Zac Antonaci
DIRECTOR OF PUBLISHING - FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS PLC
“Sam is a very passionate and talented creative. He pours 100% of himself into every one of his projects and has delivered high-quality, engaging content across many mediums.”
Ryan Askew
MANAGING DIRECTOR - PREMIER PRINT AND PROMOTIONS LTD
“I have worked closely with Sam for some time now. Sam has a tremendous eye for detail, a real creative flair and strives for perfection in every piece of work he plays a part in. It is a pleasure to work with someone willing to spend time and effort making something that could be very average stand out from the crowd. Highly recommended!”
Jim Croft
HEAD OF AUDIO - FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS PLC
“Talent. Passion. Vision. Drive. Energy. Sam possesses these qualities in spades. Trust and empower him and he will deliver!"