Blue Suitcase is a full-service production company founded by award-winning filmmakers David Hartstein and Sam Wainwright Douglas in Austin, Texas. With over twenty years of experience, our team thrives in working across a broad spectrum of projects, whether feature documentary, long form narrative, brand films, explainer videos, corporate communications, or virtual events. We do it all, and we love what we do! We’re also passionate about music, Tex-Mex Fridays, and margaritas.
David Hartstein
Principal / Director / Producer
David Hartstein is an Emmy and Independent Spirit Award-winning producer who has made a significant impact in the documentary, fiction, and commercial spheres. He and Blue Suitcase co-founder Sam Wainwright Douglas directed the feature documentary Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience, which won the Audience Award at SXSW in 2024. David’s narrative feature Sister Aimee premiered at Sundance in 2019 and was well-received in theaters and digitally. He is an internationally recognized expert, having been a producing fellow at the Biennale Cinema College in Venice, Italy. David is also committed to the local film community and served on the Filmmaker Advisory Committee of the Austin Film Society. His portfolio includes acclaimed works such as Barracuda, The Honor Farm, The Sensitives, Through the Repellent Fence, Where Soldiers Come From, and The Happy Poet among others. In addition to his film work, David has directed award-winning sponsored content for clients such as Wounded Warrior Project, Oral-B, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Indeed. David is married to Emily Ramshaw, the visionary founder and CEO of The 19th.
Sam Wainwright Douglas
Principal / Director / Editor
Sam is an accomplished director and editor based in Austin, Texas. His latest collaboration with Blue Suitcase co-founder David Hartstein, Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience, celebrates the iconic Austin radio personality and won the Audience Award at SXSW 2024. Sam’s directing portfolio includes Hot Grease, a documentary about the biodiesel industry that aired on the Discovery Channel, and Through the Repellent Fence, which was showcased at the Museum of Modern Art Doc Fortnight in New York, as well as at the South by Southwest and Full Frame Documentary Film Festivals. In 2016, Sam co-directed Honky Tonk Heaven with Brenda Mitchell, which screened at South by Southwest 2017 and International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2017. Sam’s editing skills are evident in projects like No No: A Dockumentary, a captivating sports documentary that chronicles the life of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and was later broadcast on Showtime and ESPN Classics. Sam’s production and editing expertise also extend to the PBS documentary LaDonna Harris: Indian 101, which was executive produced by Johnny Depp. In 2010, Sam directed Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio, which left a lasting impact on audiences.
Shelby Hadden
Senior Producer / Director
Shelby Hadden is a highly acclaimed documentary filmmaker, producer, and TEDx speaker. Her producing credits include the New York Times Op-Doc, To Be Queen, (Tribeca Film Festival 2019), Sister Aimee (Sundance Film Festival 2019), and Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience (Audience Award, SXSW 2024). Beyond her accomplishments in film production, Shelby’s a trailblazer in raising awareness for pelvic floor disorders. She’s written essays on the topic for BUST Magazine and Refinery29 as well as produced an award-winning short animated film, Tightly Wound. Following a successful festival run, including screenings at major film festivals such as Annecy International Animated Film Festival and DOC NYC, Tightly Wound was acquired by Condé Nast and has been viewed over 4 million times on YouTube. The film has also garnered attention from prominent platforms such as CBS’s The Doctors, Variety, Cosmopolitan, and IndieWire. An advocate for a sex-positive culture/society, Shelby presented a TEDx talk titled “Why We All Lose When We Talk About Virginity,” which argues for a more sex-positive framework for early sexual experiences. She also organized TEDxKoenigLane in 2022, which featured notable speakers such as Olivia Julianna and Dr. Han Ren. Passionate about empowering young people, she’s been a lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University and a volunteer with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference for over a decade. In her free time, Shelby enjoys sharing her love for dance as an instructor at DivaDance Austin.
We’ve done iT for them, and we can do it for you.
