Films aren’t just seen. they’re felt.

At the heart of Better Half Pictures is the creative partnership between Sarah Joy Byington and Samuel Butler. As partners in life and filmmaking, they bring a shared sense of trust, care, and collaboration to the films they make and the people they make them with.

Better Half Pictures is driven by a passion for original, artist-led storytelling and a belief in the power of deeply human stories to connect with audiences. Across genres and subject matter, the focus remains on creating cinematic experiences grounded in authentic characters and performances. Their films have earned festival recognition and awards, bringing wider attention to Better Half Pictures and their work.

Working closely together throughout the creative process, Sarah leads the writing and directing while Sam produces and edits. Their complementary backgrounds allow them to approach filmmaking from development and production through post-production, distribution, and ultimately connecting the finished work with an audience.

Building on their experience across independent film and the work they’ve created together, Sarah and Sam are growing Better Half Pictures by continuing to develop and produce original projects, with multiple feature films moving toward production.

Sarah Joy Byington directing Deserteur indie short film from Better Half Pictures
Portrait of Sarah Joy Byington award-winning writer and director

Sarah Joy Byington

SARAH JOY BYINGTON is an award-winning writer and director and co-founder of Better Half Pictures. She wrote and directed the short film LABOR + JUSTICE, which screened at HollyShorts 2023 and DIFF Shorts 2024, earning multiple awards including Best Director at the Austin Spotlight Film Festival 2024. She also directed the short film SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE, which won Best Film at Austin's Women In Film & Television, as well as, the Trailblazer Award at Austin Under the Stars festival. Her most recent short DESERTEUR premiered at the 2025 Austin Film Festival. Her work has also been recognized by Not Your Daddy’s Films, which named her one of 2025’s Directors To Watch. Sarah is currently in development for her comedy feature film I HATE THAT WE’RE RELATED, which recently scored in The Blacklist's Top 5%.

A man with shoulder-length curly hair, a beard, and mustache, wearing a gray blazer and white shirt, standing in front of a yellow backdrop featuring multiple logos for SXSW and other brands.

Samuel butler

SAMUEL BUTLER is a film editor, producer, and co-founder of Better Half Pictures. He most recently edited and produced John Valley’s AMERICAN DOLLHOUSE, which had its world premiere at SXSW 2026. Butler is also known for editing A.J. Edwards’ AGE OUT, starring Tye Sheridan which had its world premiere at SXSW 2018, won multiple international awards, and was praised by RogerEbert.com as “a striking, mesmerizing piece of work.” Other editorial credits also include Drew Water’s NEW LIFE, Kerstin Karlhuber’s AFTER ALL, as well as the Tribeca-premiering series HOME.

Sarah Joy Byington and Samuel Butler SXSW 2026 American Dollhouse World Premiere
A black and white photo of a film set with crew members and actors preparing for a scene. The crew is working around camera equipment, with some looking on attentively.
A woman with dark wavy hair, wearing a black sleeveless top and high-waisted striped pants, standing and speaking into a microphone at an outdoor venue with glass windows reflecting the evening sky.
Two crew members on a film set in a wooded outdoor area, with one woman wearing a pink hat and headphones, and a man with a headset and pointing at something, while others stand in the background.