Born into the sunshine of the Jamaican Sun, Ulato Sam has always had an inclination and love for the arts, but was set on participating in the Olympics representing his native.
He attended one of the only performing arts high schools on the island of Jamaica, Ardenne High School, and through a Track and Oprah Winfrey Scholarship started attending Morehouse College in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia.
While at Morehouse, Ulato competed in 4 SIAC Conference Finals as a track and field scholar, entered into Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society and Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honors Society, and served as both an Oprah Winfrey Scholar and a John Rockefeller Scholar.
After graduating Ulato went to work for ListenMi Caribbean, a creative collective of adventurous writers, digital artists, animators and music producers; where he served as a producer, host, and social media coordinator for the television program ‘ListenMi News’.
Each week Ulato and his team took the national news and transformed it into a music video rooted in edu-tainment. Ulato then decided to apply to graduate school and shortly thereafter accepted a scholarship offer from the UCLA School of Theatre Film and Television to pursue an M.F.A. in Acting.
Ulato completed his Masters of Fine Arts in 2019. His focus was Acting for Film & Television and during those studies he performed in lead roles as Peter in Arnold Wesker’s “The Kitchen”, as Ogun Size in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “In The Red and Brown” Water, and star in his first short film as the gangster Zepher in Beautiful Monster.
He has also been interviewed and covered by FourTwoNine Magazine, ET Canada, Carib Voxx Magazine, Smile Jamaica, TVJ Prime Time News, Shoutout LA Magazine and Alabama Arts and Culture, The Home Run on 105.3fm The Edge, The Wayne Hall Show and Irie Jam Radio.
As it pertains to technique, Ulato also has a sound foundation in European study and performance. Spending two years going to London and Poland to prepare for the lead of Al in the Contemporary Opera: Birdy, directed by Waldemar Razniak of the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, performing at the Place Theater and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts during Tête a Tête: The Opera Festival. He also completed Professional Studies in Acting and performed at Oxford University in the British American Drama Academy.
In regards to representation Ulato is signed to the Whitaker Entertainment. He was also a Founding Guide at KINRGY Expanded Fitness by Julianne Hough, has been featured on the Oprah 2020 Vision Tour, collaborated with Tony Robbins in his UPW and Business Mastery, Life Mastery, Date With Destiny and Platinum Partners Seminars. He has hosted Google’s BGN Freedom: A Juneteenth Celebration and Black @ Meta by Toasted Life, created the IGTV Series: Big Up Yuhself and has been recognized internationally as one of the Caribbean’s 30 Under 30 Changemaker Awardees for 2021. His talents and interests are eclectic which lend to his versatility across art forms. Always eager to collaborate and learn, Ulato is ready for all that is to come.