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Sam Pillsbury is a Director, Scriptwriter and Producer American
Sam Pillsbury is an American film director and producer.
Massachusetts-raised Sam Pillsbury emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 14. Aged 23, he began working at the Government-owned National Film Unit, joining a group of emerging filmmakers who were investigating new subjects and styles.
Pillsbury directed seven films at the National Film Unit, including a multi-faceted study of artist Ralph Hotere, and a satirical look at workplace relations (Men and Supermen). He was also part of the directing team on Commonwealth Games chronicle Games 74, and worked both on set and at the editing bench for Paul Maunder's Gone Up North for a While.
Pillsbury went solo in 1975. Documentary Birth with R.D.Laing won awards on both sides of the Tasman, and controversy in England and the United States. The film featured controversial Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing critiqueing Western medical handling of childbirth. Pillsbury also worked on four documentaries for TV slot Seven Days, which variously looked into life for a solo mother, an ex-convict, hospital patients, and young Māori in the city.
More TV docos followed, then in 1978, Against the Lights, a short drama based on a Witi Ihimaera tale. Pillsbury's Round the Bays doco The Greatest Run on Earth won awards at festivals in Chicago and Torino.
Pillsbury's feature film debut in 1981 was with The Scarecrow, based on the gothic novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Presented through the eyes of two teenage boys, the film chronicles the arrival in a 50s town of a mysterious stranger (played by American movie legend John Carradine). In 1982 The Scarecrow became the first Kiwi film to win invitation to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, in the non-competitive Director's Fortnight section. Teen star Jono Smith later reinvented himself as a cinematographer in England.
Pillsbury then worked extensively on a screen adaptation of end of the world sci-fi novel The Quiet Earth, before handing the project to director Geoff Murphy after deciding it needed fresh eyes (he later joked at being one of the only directors who had fired himself). Instead Pillsbury helmed 1880s immigrant tale Heart of the High Country for TV (based on a novel by Elizabeth Gowans), then segued into period road movie Starlight Hotel, which starred Smash Palace discovery Greer Robson.
Since Starlight Hotel, Pillsbury has directed extensively, mainly on American tele-movies. He returned to Kiwi moviemaking in 2000 for Crooked Earth, the tale of a clash between two Māori: a militant drug-dealer, and former military man Temuera Morrison.
Pillsbury's other features include Free Willy 3: The Rescue, 2008 road movie Endless Bummer and Where The Red Fern Grows.
These days Pillsbury has a second career as a winemaker. In 2000 he and a business partner planted a Vineyard in Cochise County, Arizona, and in 2006 sold it to a group headed by the lead singer for rock group Tool (band). Pillsbury Wine Company was launched soon afterwards, with his new vineyard across the road, and a Tasting Room in Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona.
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Sam Pillsbury
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Sam Pillsbury is an American film director and producer.
Massachusetts-raised Sam Pillsbury emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 14. Aged 23, he began working at the Government-owned National Film Unit, joining a group of emerging filmmakers who were investigating new subjects and styles.
Pillsbury directed seven films at the National Film Unit, including a multi-faceted study of artist Ralph Hotere, and a satirical look at workplace relations (Men and Supermen). He was also part of the directing team on Commonwealth Games chronicle Games 74, and worked both on set and at the editing bench for Paul Maunder's Gone Up North for a While.
Pillsbury went solo in 1975. Documentary Birth with R.D.Laing won awards on both sides of the Tasman, and controversy in England and the United States. The film featured controversial Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing critiqueing Western medical handling of childbirth. Pillsbury also worked on four documentaries for TV slot Seven Days, which variously looked into life for a solo mother, an ex-convict, hospital patients, and young Māori in the city.
More TV docos followed, then in 1978, Against the Lights, a short drama based on a Witi Ihimaera tale. Pillsbury's Round the Bays doco The Greatest Run on Earth won awards at festivals in Chicago and Torino.
Pillsbury's feature film debut in 1981 was with The Scarecrow, based on the gothic novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Presented through the eyes of two teenage boys, the film chronicles the arrival in a 50s town of a mysterious stranger (played by American movie legend John Carradine). In 1982 The Scarecrow became the first Kiwi film to win invitation to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, in the non-competitive Director's Fortnight section. Teen star Jono Smith later reinvented himself as a cinematographer in England.
Pillsbury then worked extensively on a screen adaptation of end of the world sci-fi novel The Quiet Earth, before handing the project to director Geoff Murphy after deciding it needed fresh eyes (he later joked at being one of the only directors who had fired himself). Instead Pillsbury helmed 1880s immigrant tale Heart of the High Country for TV (based on a novel by Elizabeth Gowans), then segued into period road movie Starlight Hotel, which starred Smash Palace discovery Greer Robson.
Since Starlight Hotel, Pillsbury has directed extensively, mainly on American tele-movies. He returned to Kiwi moviemaking in 2000 for Crooked Earth, the tale of a clash between two Māori: a militant drug-dealer, and former military man Temuera Morrison.
Pillsbury's other features include Free Willy 3: The Rescue, 2008 road movie Endless Bummer and Where The Red Fern Grows.
These days Pillsbury has a second career as a winemaker. In 2000 he and a business partner planted a Vineyard in Cochise County, Arizona, and in 2006 sold it to a group headed by the lead singer for rock group Tool (band). Pillsbury Wine Company was launched soon afterwards, with his new vineyard across the road, and a Tasting Room in Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona.
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Filmography of Sam Pillsbury (21 films)
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Endless Bummer (2009)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Jim Piddock, Colton James, Ray Santiago, Allison Scagliotti, Vanessa Angel, Jane Leeves
Rating37%
Raising Waylon (2004)
, 2hDirected by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Actors Thomas Gibson, Poppy Montgomery, Jeremy Bergman, Doris Roberts, Susan Brady, Latham Gaines
Rating59%
Réginald and Julia are obliged to raise the son of their friends who have died in an accident, because they are his godfather and godmother.
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Genres Drama
Actors Kristen Bell, Tim Matheson, Sean Young, Edward Asnere, Bug Hall
Rating64%
Alison Dodge, une jeune fille de 17 ans, a été abandonnée par son père quand elle n'avait que 6 ans. Un jour, Alison reçoit enfin une réponse à l'une de ses lettres où son père lui demande de venir passer l'été chez lui.
Audrey's Rain (2003)
, 1h24Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Jean Smart, Richard Gilliland, Angus T. Jones, Carol Kane, Kathleen Wilhoite, Raymond O'Connor
Rating57%
Crooked Earth (2001)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Genres Drama
Actors Temuera Morrison, Lawrence Makoare, Jaime Passier-Armstrong, Nancy Brunning, George Henare, Calvin Tuteao
Rating56%
The film follows Will Bastion (Morrison) as he returns home from the army after an absence of 20 years to bury his father. Upon returning home Will must, according to tradition, take on the position of tribal chief. Due to his disinterest in the position, his brother Kahu (Makoare) takes the opportunity to be in charge. Faced with Kahu's drug-dealing and radical views, Bastion must decide whether to act.
The Wedding Dress (2001)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Neil Patrick Harris, Margaret Colin, Tyne Daly, Jay Brazeau, Peter Wingfield, Donnelly Rhodes
Rating65%
3 histoires sur le mariage autour d'une seule et unique robe de mariée...
Morgan's Ferry (1999)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Billy Zane, Henry Rollins, Kelly McGillis, Roscoe Lee Browne, Johnny Galecki, Muse Watson
Rating56%
A trio of escaped criminals hide out in a woman's home as they await to catch a ferry.
Fifteen and Pregnant (1998)
, 1h36Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Pregnancy films, Films about sexuality
Actors Kirsten Dunst, Park Overall, David Andrews, Julia Whelan, Katee Sackhoff, Tyler Gannon
Rating55%
The film commences with 14-year-old Tina having sex with her boyfriend, Ray. Ray later ends his relationship with Tina, telling her that he must focus upon his athletic goals. When Tina discovers that she has started her period, she is extremely relieved. On Tina's birthday, she is despondent because another birthday has passed and she does not have a boyfriend.
Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)
, 1h25Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Adventure
Themes Films about animals, Films about children, Seafaring films, Transport films, Cétacé, Mise en scène d'un cétacé
Actors Jason James Richter, August Schellenberg, August Schellenberg, Patrick Kilpatrick, Annie Corley, Ian Tracey
Rating47%
Jesse is sixteen years old and works as an orca-researcher on a research ship called the Noah alongside his old friend Randolph and moved away from Glen and Annie who were promised by Randolph to keep Jesse out of trouble. They suspect that Willy and his pod are being illegally hunted by whalers posing as commercial fishermen. Aboard just such a ship, the Botany Bay, Max Wesley, who is ten years old, takes his first trip to sea with his father, John, a whaler from a long line of whalers, and learns the true unlawful nature of the family business. During his first hunt, Max is thrown overboard and comes face to face with Willy. From this point on, Max is working against his own father, teaming with Jesse and Randolph to save Willy from becoming $200-per-pound sushi. Jesse introduces Max to Willy properly after learning of Max's experience and how Max likes whales. Jesse goes to his and Randolph's head boss about the threat to the whales, but he refuses to take action until Jesse manages to get proof with help from Max.
Sins of Silence (1996)
, 2hDirected by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Holly Marie Combs, Lindsay Wagner, Cynthia Sikes, Laura Bertram, Victor Argo, Sean McCann
Rating61%
Lindsay Wagner stars in this TV movie as Molly McKinley, a former nun now employed (and grossly underfunded) as a rape counselor. A teenager named Sophie (Holly Marie Combs) seeks out Molly's help after she is raped by the scion of a wealthy family. Refusing to release a confidential file that would reveal Molly's past promiscuity — and thus seriously compromise her case against her assailant — Molly is sent to jail. The problem now becomes two-pronged: If Molly wants to be released, she must hand over information that may allow the rapist to go free; and if Sophie doesn't speak up, Molly's future career will be destroyed.
A Mother's Instinct (1996)
, 1h28Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Lindsay Wagner, Debrah Farentino, John Terry, Lynne Thigpen, Alana Austin, Lee Norris
Rating57%
A former divorcé learns that her new husband's past includes an abandoned wife. After he disappears with his two sons, the two wives team up to find him.
Thrill (1996)
, 1h35Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Actors Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Stepfanie Kramer, Christine Harnos
Rating45%
Après s'être livré à plusieurs sabotages dans un parc d'attractions, un inconnu s'attaque au plus impressionnant des manèges et sème une terrible panique.
Knight Rider 2010 (1994)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller
Actors Hudson Leick, Michael Beach, Nicky Katt, Badja Djola, Mark Pellegrino, Brion James
Rating29%
In a Mad Max style future, Jake McQueen is the ultimate smuggler, smuggling in Mexicans for money to survive, only for his smuggling to come to a halt when he is busted by his brother while getting his truck repaired.
Shadows of Desire (1994)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Genres Drama, Thriller, Romance
Actors Richard Roundtree, Piper Laurie, Adrian Pasdar, Nicollette Sheridan, Joe Lando, Brandon Mychal Smith
Rating55%
Eyes of Terror (1993)
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Genres Thriller
Actors Barbara Eden, Michael Nouri, Joan Pringle, David Marciano
Rating47%
Dr. Jesse Newman (Barbara Eden) is now counselling members of the San Francisco Police Department and assigned to treating David Zaccariah (Michael Nouri), a grieving policeman who lost his partner of ten years in a shootout. Days later, it seems that the case is wrapped up when the perfect suspect is apprehended. But David has inadvertently given the most important clue of all to the person he should have most avoided: Jesse Newman. It's a lucky coin that belonged to his partner, and it triggers a revealing series of psychic visions for Jesse. The visions implicate much more than just the killer; they reveal the sordid habits of San Francisco's business and political elite.