Olatunde Osunsanmi (born October 23, 1977) is an American

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

and producer. He is known for his work on

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

The Fourth Kind ''The Fourth Kind'' is a 2009 science fiction psychological horror thriller film directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and featuring a cast of Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Corey Johnson, Will Patton, Charlotte Milchard, Mia Mckenna-Bruce, Yulian Verg ...

'' and for the

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

drama ''

Falling Skies ''Falling Skies'' is an American science fiction television series set in a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic era, created by Robert Rodat and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, executive produced by Steve ...

'', as well as being director or producer on several episodes of '' Star Trek: Discovery''.

Life and career

Osunsanmi was born in the United States to parents who had immigrated from Nigeria. He graduated with a

Masters of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree from

Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is one of ten schools constituting Chapman University, located in Orange, California, south of Los Angeles. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, with programs in film production, screenwriting ...

. His first foray in the industry was with a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

he wrote and directed, entitled ''Etat''. The feature explored the 1970s political climate of his parents’ native Nigeria. He went on to direct and co-pen the low-budget horror film ''

The Cavern The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely asso ...

'', before being approached by

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

to helm, produce and write the alien-invasion/horror flick ''

''. The film claims to be based on "actual case studies" occurring in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

in 2000, and included in the film is footage of Osunsanmi interviewing a "Dr. Abigail Tyler" at Chapman University in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

. In 2013, he helmed the serial killer film ''

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

'', starring ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

Stephen Moyer Stephen Moyer (born Stephen John Emery; 11 October 1969) is an English film and television actor who is best known as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series ''True Blood''. His first television role was in 1993 as Philip Masefield in the TV ad ...

. He has since switched to directing episodic television, such as instalments of '' Under the Dome'', '' The Last Ship'', ''

Extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

'', '' Sleepy Hollow'', ''

Minority Report Minority Report may refer to: * Minority report (Poor Law), published by the UK Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–09 * "Minority Report", a 1949 science fiction short story by Theodore Sturgeon * "The Minority Report ...

, Gotham,'' '' Blindspot'' and '' Star Trek: Discovery''. More recently, Osunsanmi signed a multi-year overall deal with

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

''Falling Skies''

In summer 2014, Osunsanmi directed his first hour of television with TNT's fourth season drama ''

'', entitled "Saturday Night Massacre". He was originally hired for only one episode, but another director was forced to depart episode 4.11, "Space Oddity", due to personal matters, and the cast and crew lobbied for Osunsanmi to return, and he did. He replaced outgoing director/co-executive producer

Greg Beeman Greg Beeman (born 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American film and television director and producer and winner of the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. He is well known for his work on the television ser ...

for the series' fifth and final season. He directed the final season premiere, "Find Your Warrior"; as well as episodes "Hunger Pains" and "Non-Essential Personnel". He lastly helmed the series' final episode, "Reborn".

''Gotham''

Osunsanmi is credited for directing Season 3, Episode 13 of the TV series, Gotham, titled " Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It". The episode aired on January 23, 2017.

''Star Trek: Discovery''

Osunsanmi directed Episode 4 (titled " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry", aired October 8, 2017), Episode 13 (titled "

What's Past Is Prologue "What's past is prologue" is a quotation of William Shakespeare from his play '' The Tempest''. In contemporary use, the phrase stands for the idea that history sets the context for the present. The quotation is engraved on the National Archiv ...

"; aired January 28, 2018), Episode 18 (titled “Point of Light”; aired January 31, 2019), Episode 23 (titled “Such Sweet Sorrow”; aired April 11, 2019), Episode 30 (titled "That Hope Is You, Part 1"; aired October 15, 2020) and Episode 31 (titled "Far From Home"; aired October 22, 2020) of the TV series, '' Star Trek: Discovery''. He also directed the Star Trek: Short Trek episode Calypso (a Star Trek Discovery inter-season short film).

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osunsanmi, Olatunde 1977 births Living people American film directors American television directors American people of Nigerian descent