Jump to content

Sam Pillsbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam Pillsbury
Born
Waterbury, Connecticut,US
Occupation(s)Director, producer

Sam Pillsburyis an American film director, producer, and winemaker.[1]

Massachusetts-raised Sam Pillsbury emigrated toNew Zealandat the age of 14. At age 23 he began working for the government-ownedNational Film Unitof New Zealand, joining a group of emerging filmmakers who were investigating new subjects and creative film making styles.

Pillsbury directed seven films at the National Film Unit, including a multi-faceted study of artistRalph Hotere,and a satirical look at workplace relations (Men and Supermen). He was also part of the directing team onCommonwealth GameschronicleGames '74,and worked both on set and at the editing bench forPaul Maunder'sGone Up North for a While.

Pillsbury embarked on a solo career in 1975. His documentary, "Birth with R.D. Laing," garnered awards in both Australia and New Zealand, while also generating controversy in England and the United States. The film prominently showcased the outspoken Scottish psychiatrist, R.D. Laing, as he critiqued the Western medical approach to 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 youngMāoriin the city.

More TV documentaries followed, then in 1978, Against the Lights, a short drama based on aWiti Ihimaeratale. Pillsbury's Round the Bays doco The Greatest Run on Earth won awards at festivals in Chicago andTorino.

Pillsbury's feature film debut in 1981 was withThe Scarecrow,based on thegothic novelbyRonald 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 legendJohn Carradine). In 1982 The Scarecrow became the first Kiwi film to win invitation to the prestigiousCannes 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 novelThe Quiet Earth,before handing the project to directorGeoff Murphyafter 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 byElizabeth Gowans), then segued into period road movieStarlight Hotel,which starredSmash PalacediscoveryGreer Robson.

SinceStarlight Hotel,Pillsbury has directed extensively, mainly on American tele-movies. He returned to Kiwi moviemaking in 2000 forCrooked Earth,the tale of a clash between twoMāori:a militant drug-dealer, and former military manTemuera Morrison.

Pillsbury's other features includeFree Willy 3:The Rescue, 2008 road movieEndless BummerandWhere 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 byMaynard James Keenan.Pillsbury Wine Company was launched soon afterwards, with his new vineyard & tasting room across the road in Willcox, Arizona, and a Tasting Room in Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona.[2]

Pillsbury Wine has earned several national awards including Gold Medals in the Jefferson Cup, and several Double Gold Medals in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.[3]

Pillsbury's wife is the daughter of sculptorGeny Dignac.[4]

Selected filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^New York Times
  2. ^"Arizona Wine Trails".PHOENIX magazine.September 26, 2019.RetrievedApril 28,2020.
  3. ^Maki."Arizona Winery Wins Gold in Napa Valley".www.bizjournals.com.RetrievedApril 28,2020.
  4. ^"Phoenix artist's home and studio connected by art and design".RetrievedFebruary 6,2017.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sam_Pillsbury&oldid=1223714402"