EXCLUSIVE: Who is Sam Cox, and why is his house covered in doodles?
Acme Studios and Lightbox set out to answer these questions in the upcoming documentary feature The Trouble with Mr Doodle.
The documentary tells the story of Cox, a 25-year-old British artist known as Mr Doodle, who bought a six-bedroom mansion in the English countryside of Kent in 2019. After stripping it bare and painting it brilliant white, he spent more than two years covering every single inch of it in doodles.
In October 2022, Mr Doodle became the subject of global media attention when he unveiled his Doodle House to the world. The video Sam created to document his work in a three-minute-long stop-frame time lapse received over 70 million views in the first few days.
The world marvelled at what kind of mind could produce such an extraordinary work of living art and wondered how he did it. Now we finally get to understand why.
“I wanted to make a film about Mr Doodle’s quest to doodle the world, but it turns out Sam’s story was a little more interesting. Working with these incredible directors has allowed us to make a film showing how life hasn’t always been a doddle for Mr Doodle,” Cox said in a statement.
The film will utilize its access to Cox, as well as his friends and family, to document the artist’s evolution from a drawing-obsessed child to an artistic phenomenon. It will also feature years of unseen footage and personal archives to tell the story.
The Trouble with Mr Doodle is an independent documentary feature made by acme in association with Lightbox. Jaimie D’Cruz and Ed Perkins direct the film. Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn executive produce. Sales agents for The Trouble with Mr Doodle are Benjamin Simoné and Ryan McNeily at WME.
The documentary will be premiering at SXSW, with a first screening on March 11.
