Sam Longoria (born March 12, 1956, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, United States) is a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

producer-director and

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

engineer. He produces independent feature movies, (digital and 35mm and 65mm film), and serves as writer, director, actor, editor and cinematographer. Longoria began making movies in 1970 at the age of 14. He made a feature-length

35 mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on f ...

in Enumclaw, Washington, moved to Hollywood in 1978, with occasional film and theatre work in Portland, Oregon, New York, and Chicago. Longoria's Hollywood work (frequently uncredited) begins in the 1980s, as a member of the technical crew on films such as '' Ghostbusters'', ''

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

'', ''

Return to Oz ''Return to Oz'' is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is an ...

'', and ''

Captain EO ''Captain EO'' is a 1986 American 3D science fiction short film shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1998. The movie stars Michael Jackson, was written by George Lucas, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola (who came up with the name ...

''. In 1985, he photographed President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in the White House for a large-format film documentary. In 1992, he created

35 mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

projected backgrounds from small-format film and video elements, for

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...

's production of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

's Opera ''Mathis der Maler'', at London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. In the 1990s, Longoria built camera electronics for the 1994 film '' Terminal Velocity'', optically enlarged

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

and Martin Sheen's Super 8 mm home movies for the

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'' Five Aces'', and performed hydraulic special effects on the 1997 film ''

Dante's Peak ''Dante's Peak'' is a 1997 American disaster thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson, written by Leslie Bohem, and starring Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, and Charles Hallahan. The film is set in the fictional town of Dante's Peak where the in ...

'', which had the largest water dump (650,000 gallons, weighing 5.4 million pounds) in cinema history. From 1985 to 1994, Longoria Produced six live stage comedy shows a week, a Russian Drama, and two successful comedy radio shows, in Hollywood at The WILD SIDE Theatre. He loves Improv, and uses it in his shows and films. In 1998–2001, he helped out in the studio with his friends' " The Firesign Theatre" comedy recordings, and attended the Grammy Awards in 1998 and 2002 to root for their nominated discs. He is credited as "Mascot," and "Nuts and Berries." Since 2001, he splits his year, working both in

and

. Longoria is a member of the

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and pr ...

and the

Masquers Club The Masquers Club is a private social club for actors in Los Angeles, California. It was created in 1925 by actors from New York City who had left Broadway to act in motion pictures. It was similar to the Lambs Club in New York. The Club produced th ...

in Hollywood, and focuses now on making his own films.

External links

Official website

Longoria's filmmaking blog
*

Longoria in Los Angeles Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longoria, Sam American bloggers Filmmakers from Seattle 1956 births Living people Film directors from Washington (state)