---
name: "Sam Pillsbury"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sam-pillsbury"
fi1m_id: "sam-pillsbury"
imdb_id: "nm0683578"
tmdb_id: 64099
wikidata_id: "Q7408020"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "1 January 1953"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-26T01:15:15.099742+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sam Pillsbury

## Identity

Sam Pillsbury

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sam-pillsbury
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sam-pillsbury
- **IMDb ID:** nm0683578
- **TMDB ID:** 64099
- **Wikidata ID:** Q7408020
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Pillsbury, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7408020, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0683578/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64099

Producer. Born 1 January 1953 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 1 January 1953, New York City, New York, USA
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Pillsbury, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7408020, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0683578/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64099

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Quiet Earth*](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-earth.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Sam Pillsbury is an American film director, writer and producer. He emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 14 and began working at the government-owned National Film Unit in his early twenties. There he directed several short films and documentaries before going solo in 1975.

Pillsbury's feature debut was the 1982 mystery *Klynham Summer* (also known as *The Scarecrow*). He wrote the screenplay and produced *The Quiet Earth* (1985), directed by Geoff Murphy. Subsequent features include *Starlight Hotel* (1987), *Zandalee* (1991), *Free Willy 3: The Rescue* (1997) and *Crooked Earth* (2001). He has also directed numerous television films and returned to New Zealand projects after working in the United States.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nzonscreen.com, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Quiet Earth* (1985), Fi1m 78, Writer, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-earth.md)

## Complete filmography (28)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *National Lampoon Presents: Endless Bummer* (2009), Screenplay, Director
- *Raising Waylon* (2004), Director
- *The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay* (2003), Director
- *Audrey's Rain* (2003), Director
- *Where the Red Fern Grows* (2003), Author, Director
- *Taking Back Our Town* (2001), Director
- *Morgan's Ferry* (2001), Director
- *The Wedding Dress* (2001), Director
- *Crooked Earth* (2001), Director
- *Secret of Giving* (1999), Director
- *Fifteen and Pregnant* (1998), Director
- *Free Willy 3: The Rescue* (1997), Director
- *Thrill* (1996), Director
- *A Mother's Instinct* (1996), Director, Co-Producer
- *Sins of Silence* (1996), Director
- *Between Love and Honor* (1995), Director
- *Shadows of Desire* (1994), Director
- *Search for Grace* (1994), Director
- *Eyes of Terror* (1994), Director
- *Knight Rider 2010* (1994), Director
- *The President's Child* (1992), Director
- *Eerie, Indiana* (1991), series, Director
- *Into the Badlands* (1991), Director
- *Zandalee* (1991), Director
- *Starlight Hotel* (1987), Director
- *The Quiet Earth* (1985), Producer, Writer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-earth.md)
- *The Scarecrow* (1982), Director
- *Ralph Hotere* (1974), Director, Editor

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sam-pillsbury