The 2025 Leo Awards were held at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Vancouver on July 12th and 13th. Ian Samoil was nominated for Best Dramatic Series for Superman & Lois. Ian won the Leo for Best Director of a Dramatic Series for Superman & Lois: When the Lights Come On
Here is our conversation with Ian Samoil.
HNMAG: Ian, where did you grow up?
Ian Samoil: I’m from Port Coquitlam (PoCo).
HNMAG: That’s great, you stayed in the Vancouver area. This is your home. How did you become interested in working in this industry?
Ian Samoil: I was studying literature at Simon Fraser University. I thought I would become an English professor. I took an elective. It was a film course. I saw a map of where the actors were, all the crew around them, and I had an epiphany. If I’m working on a film set, every day of my life, I would be happy, every day of my life. I switched majors, and I got into the film program. After that, I was getting straight A’s, and it was exactly what I wanted to do. That year, I secured a position as a Production Assistant (PA) with Shavick Entertainment. Over the years, I worked up the ladder to directing and producing.
HNMAG: How was the experience of attending the Leos?
Ian Samoil: It was an amazing night. It was really unexpected to hear my name announced. It was my first time submitting to the Leos. It was my first time attending the Leos, and my first time going up and being able to thank everyone who helped me. It was a great night.
HNMAG: How did you get involved in Superman & Lois?
Ian Samoil: I joined Superman & Lois as an Assistant Director (AD) in the first season, but I was also given an episode to direct. I came from a show called The 100. That is where I started directing. I ended up directing five shows on that series. I had a great relationship with the writers. I was a big part of that series for seven seasons. One of the executives brought me over to Superman & Lois.
HNMAG: Is Superman & Lois still going?
Ian Samoil: No, that wrapped up 2024. After the first two years, I was made line producer. Even though I wasn’t pursuing that position, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. It wen’t really well and I really enjoyed it. In the last season, the writers gave me another episode to direct, and that’s the one I won a Leo for.
HNMAG: When did that air?
Ian Samoil: It aired around the end of 2024.
HNMAG: When you first studied film at SFU, did you just want to work in this industry, or did you have an ambition back then to direct and produce?
Ian Samoil: I started with the question of where I would be happy working every day. I saw myself wanting to work with actors in any capacity. I didn’t know much, but I felt that if I were on a film set, it would be a lot of fun, and if I were helping to make a movie, I would be happy every day. It’s never a chore to get up and go to work. Once I started working, I came up with a goal of being a first AD in ten years. I accomplished that first goal in the timeline. Then I had a new goal of directing. Then I accomplished that. Now I feel that as a producer/director I am using all my skills.
HNMAG: Do you have another goal for ten years down the line?
Ian Samoil: I want to be an award-winning producer and director who has a strong reputation and people want to hire me.
HNMAG: We would love for Vancouver to play itself more often in ten years, and it’s something that is in demand around the globe.
Ian Samoil: I thought about that a lot. You have to make Vancouver a character in whatever you are making. In Davinci’s Inquest is a terrific example of that. Continuum also did a good job with that. Wild Cards is trying to do that again. I often think about how to design a big-budget action feature that has all the beautiful scenery of BC, and utilizes our now world-renowned stunt teams. That would be my dream, of getting everyone together.
HNMAG: Maybe a story about the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) with Ryan Reynolds and Cobie Smulders.
Ian Samoil: I could see that. Then it would have to have comedy.
HNMAG: Definitely, comedy-action. What are you working on next?
Ian Samoil: I am working on a new Netflix series called Trinity. It’s a huge submarine action-drama. In about a year from now, we’ll get the team together from Superman & Lois for another series. Until then, I am also going to join the second season of Shogun. I love to stay busy.
HNMAG: What would you like people to know about how you earned your success?
Ian Samoil: My story is of someone who started at the very bottom, as a PA, picking up cigarette buts in Bordertown on Dead Man’s Gun. There are no filters on a Western. I was convinced that I was really helping out by getting all the buts off the ground to make sure it really looked like the right period. The point is that I did all the hard jobs, worked my way up through the AD track, pulled off incredible hours, and worked my way all the way up to being a director. Then, ultimately, becoming a producer. My journey was far beyond what I thought would be possible. I have lived the dream as a local boy making it. I worked really hard and it’s paid off. People saw that, and that is how opportunity came my way. You don’t get offered anything without people seeing how much you care about the story. The writers saw how I cared about their scripts, characters, and their stories. I was doing everything to protect that.
Hard work pays off! That’s what Ian Samoil believes and what he has proved. When he was a freshman at SFU, he took a film elective and never looked back. He worked his way up from being an on-set PA to eventually becoming a director and producer. Every step of the way, Ian made his mark with his action and dedication. Now he has been recognized as one of BC’s best directors with his very own Leo Award. We are happy to follow Ian on his journey, and who knows, maybe one day, he’ll even secure Vancouver as a character in the blockbuster action comedy, My Friend The Spy.
