UNC’s Department of Communication announces filmmaker and UNC Alum Sam Hargrave as the department commencement’s speaker on Saturday, May 13. The ceremony will take place in the Dean Smith Center from 6:00-8:00pm.
Sam Hargrave is most recently known for directing one of NETFLIX’s most successful original movies, Extraction and Extraction 2, releasing on June 16, 2023. He is credited as the second unit director for works such as The Mandalorian TV series on Disney+, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, and Deadpool 2 distributed by 20th Century Fox.
The filmmaker began working as a Stunts Coordinator and has received many recognitions, including a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture for Avengers: Endgame (2019), a Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Action in the Foreign Film for World Warrior 2 (2017), and a Taurus World Stunt Award for Best High Work in Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Hargrave received his bachelor of arts degree from the Department of Communication from UNC in 2004. He says of speaking at commencement, “I can’t wait to visit my old UNC stomping grounds and meet with the next generation of Communication majors!”
Hargrave is a former participant in the Hollywood Internship Program. He said “My time in UNC’s Hollywood Internship Program was instrumental in my career as a filmmaker…I am thankful for the opportunities provided to me by my time spent [in the Hollywood Internship program].”
Extraction 2 is slated to release June 16, 2023. Watch the trailer here.