Sam Horowitz
Sammy Horowitz is an award-winning Jewish screenwriter, professional boxer, and stuntman from Chicago and former gang member who spent over 8.5 years in Illinois prison.
After struggling with drug and alcohol addiction upon his release, Sammy decided to get completely clean and sober and began training in boxing and competing regularly. After many amateur fights and becoming a semifinalist in the Chicago Golden Gloves, Sammy turned professional. Through boxing, he made connections in Television and Film, and with his athletic abilities became a working Hollywood stuntman. He has now performed in upwards of 100 episodes of television, 30 + films, and multiple music videos and national commercials.
In 2017, Sammy met his writing partner Adam Pasen and began collaborating on both films and original pilot scripts. Sammy is also a playwright, and his original play Musket and the Rat opened to critical acclaim in Los Angeles in 2020. His short movie “Danny Boy” has received multiple awards and wide recognition on the festival circuit.
Sammy's ties with Chabad began in 2002 when he first met Rabbi Scheiman while incarcerated at Shawnee Correctional Center. Rabbi Scheiman has remained a central part of Sammy's life and a mentor throughout.
In response to the terrorist attacks on October 7th, 2023, Sammy flew to Israel 10 days later and volunteered around the country in whatever capacity he could. Upon returning home he established the Bear Jew Boxing Club, where for over a year now he has taught weekly self-defense boxing classes to religious and secular Jews alike to help combat antisemitism, completely free of charge.
Sammy is currently a 2024-2025 Northwestern University Justice Fellow and cofounded the Justice Impacted Writers' Project (JIWP) along with Adam, Northwestern University, and the Writers Guild Foundation. Through it, they aim to reduce recidivism while teaching incarcerated men in Illinois how to write for television.
Sammy and Adam have gone on to write for both television and film. Sammy and his wife Sari now split their time between Chicago and Los Angeles, where Sammy is passionate about activism (especially regarding the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex).