‘I’m so sucked in’: Todd Sampson can’t enough of TV vampires – Sydney Morning Herald

What I'm reading: Tim Winton's The Boy Behind the Curtain and Louis Theroux's Gotta Get Theroux This I hate the name. Both are autobiographies. Tim Winton's writing is so brilliant. He arguably is the best we have in this country and one of the best in the world. For Louis Theroux, I relate to him as a filmmaker and I see his book as helping me be better at filmmaking. He has an incredible ability to get the story without putting himself in the middle. Louis does no pieces to camera, he finds these people and just gives them enough space to say too much. He didn't start as a filmmaker. His awkwardness and weirdness, what became his trademark, were things he was embarrassed of in the beginning.

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I wrote a novel during the pandemic: It was inspired by two things my mother dying and by free time and not filming. I started to write about fear, which is something you could say I specialise in, the ability to manage anxiety and fear in situations. That was a new hobby or therapy. It's not something I've always wanted to do, it's just something I tried my hand at. It may never see the light of day, my kids may read it. I don't know.

I unwind with: Meditation. One of the things I've learnt over my time is that in the cultures I've studied and reported on, most of the extraordinary ones have some form of breath practice. I recommend everyone learn some form of meditation; just from a science perspective, breath is incredibly powerful.

COVID-19 has shifted my thinking: Now I appreciate being around people. I'm not super social. I don't go to events. I don't go to parties. I'm pretty much with my family, that's it, that's all I do. And this reminded me of the importance of opening up to others, it has changed that for me. When the introverts are complaining about being alone, you know you've got problems! Todd Sampson appears on Gruen on ABC and iview.

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'I'm so sucked in': Todd Sampson can't enough of TV vampires - Sydney Morning Herald