Samuel Morris: A Few Of My Favourite Things

Above is me with my beloved angel cup at my desk. In this picture I’m trying to pose naturally. 

Didn’t work, I guess.

I love my workplace. It keeps me sane - or at least that’s what I like to pretend in the picture. I hope I was able to convince you.

I share a studio in Basel, Switzerland, with five other creatives, which means there’s always coffee, chaos and someone playing the wrong playlist. We call it @burgunderstrasse.

Without this place I’d probably drift into daydreams and never come back. 

I’m too bubbly for home-office life. This studio saves me.

The Orange Crocs

Well, first things first, right? You gotta stay cosy when you sit eight hours or more at your desk.

I try to stand up now and then, walk around and breathe some fresh air to keep the creative energy flowing.

My doctor told me it’s good for blood flow. 

I also like to think my Crocs have some kind of health benefit – though I’m not entirely sure.

At least they’re orange. 

I love the colour orange.

The Coffee Table Books

What’s an office without some nice coffee-table books? 

The ones you read, or at least act like you’re reading, but actually only look at the pictures.

Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m too much of a visual person. 

No, no, I’m joking – I do read these books. 

From left to right, these have really inspired me recently:

• Yumna Al-Arashi – Aisha (Fellow Swiss artist, highly recommend her book)
• Pedro Almodóvar – The Last Dream (One of my favourite film directors, love him)
• Jasper Morrison – A Book of Things (A super-slick product designer; I adore all his designs. He even made tiny wine glasses, and I love them.)
• Letizia Battaglia – Anthology (If you don’t know her, I don’t know you... Hehe, just kidding, but do I know you?)

The Pentax Espio Mini

What’s your average hipster director without a proper analogue camera, right?

I’ll be brutally honest here – forget all the other online reviews of point-and-shoot cameras. 

This is my beloved, the one and only Pentax Espio Mini.

Put some random Kodak film in there... nothing beats this.

The size is a bit smaller than other common point-and-shoots. 

I even have two of them. 

No joke. 

(I know I said ‘the one and only’. Don’t tell the other one.)

The Skateboard

It’s a skateboard by my close friend Christoph Rediger for the Swiss brand Doodah.

It’s his own line of cruiser boards, and I just love the design and shape. 

He created it together with his brother. 

That’s why I keep it hung up and never ride it – it’s just too nice.

I skated my whole life, and that’s actually where all the filmmaking began... out in the streets with my friends, hanging out and filming each other just for fun. 

And now I get to make a living out of it. How sick is that, right? 

I feel really thankful for all of this.

The Backlit Cinema Poster

Big shoutout to my cousin Tobias! He’s a film musician, works part-time at a cinema, and managed to get me one of these old backlit cinema poster frames. 

I love it.

They’ve now replaced them with digital screens, which is fine, but I still prefer the old ones. 

We’re always changing the poster inside at the studio. 

Right now, it’s from this year’s edition of the Venice Film Festival.

Man, that place is so sick. 

I love the Venice Film Festival. 

Some of us from the studio go every year, and I can only recommend it if you’re into films and used to sitting more than eight hours in a chair like me.

The Studio Cinema

I swear I didn’t want to brag or show off with this post, I’m so sorry. But I just had to... we have our own home cinema in the studio, and I have to tell you, it’s just amazing.

It’s inspired by those old, slightly sexy, kitschy cinemas from the past.

We come together and watch films here (we don’t Pirate Bay them, we buy them, I promise) and sometimes even watch over lunch break.

Of course, we also screen our own projects. 

It’s just such a blessing. 

Let me know when you’re in Basel – we can also screen your film.