Sam Liu is an American animation producer, director, storyboard artist and character designer. He is best known for directing animated superhero films at both Marvel Entertainment and

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...

. Sam attended the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

for fine art then went on to

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

as an illustration major. While at UCSC he illustrated for the first Cyberpunk RPG from

R. Talsorian Games R. Talsorian Games (RTG) is a publisher of role-playing game books and accessories. Originally based in Berkeley, California, but moved to Renton, Washington in 1997. Their titles include the ''Cyberpunk 2020'' series and anime-related titles su ...

. Liu's first job was in comic books, penciling for Image Comics. In 1996, he moved to animation, directing '' Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles'' and '' Godzilla: The Series'' for Sony Animation. He later went to

Sony Computer Entertainment of America Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

to design characters for PlayStation, then came back to animation, winning a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for his work on '' The Batman'' series in 2006. He was a sequence director for '' The Batman vs Dracula''. He has since worked on many animated films for Marvel Entertainment and

, including '' All-Star Superman'', '' Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'', ''

Hulk Vs ''Marvel Animated Features'' (''MAF'') is a series of the first eight direct-to-video animated superhero films made by MLG Productions, a joint venture between Marvel Studios (later Marvel Animation) and Lions Gate Entertainment. History In ...

'', ''

Planet Hulk "Planet Hulk" is a Marvel Comics storyline that ran primarily through issues of '' The Incredible Hulk'' starting in 2006. Written by Greg Pak, it dealt with the Marvel heroes' decision to send the Hulk away, his acclimation to and conquest of th ...

'', '' Thor: Son of Asgard'', and co-directing with

Lauren Montgomery Lauren Eve Montgomery (born May 4, 1980) is an American storyboard artist, television director, film director, character designer, film producer, television producer, and television writer. Early life Lauren Montgomery became interested in drawi ...

on '' Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths'' and '' Batman: Year One''. Liu was also the primary character designer for '' Superman/Batman: Apocalypse''. In 2010, Liu moved back to television, directing '' Green Lantern: The Animated Series'' with

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subseque ...

, and '' Beware the Batman'' with

Glen Murakami Glen Murakami is an American animator, director and producer best known for his work on '' Batman Beyond'', ''Teen Titans'', '' Teen Titans Go!'', '' Ben 10: Alien Force'' and '' Ben 10: Ultimate Alien''. Murakami co-created, produced, and develop ...

. He then directed the animated film '' Justice League: Gods and Monsters'', its companion series '' Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles'' written by

, the animated film '' Justice League vs. Teen Titans'', '' Justice League vs. the Fatal Five'', the animated adaptation of '' Batman: The Killing Joke'', the animated films '' Teen Titans: The Judas Contract'' and '' Batman and Harley Quinn'', the animated adaptation of '' Gotham by Gaslight'', and the animated film '' Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay''. Along with Jake Castorena, Liu co-directed the first-installment animated adaptation of ''

The Death of Superman "The Death of Superman" is a crossover story event featured in DC Comics' Superman-related publications. The crossover, which originated from editor Mike Carlin and writers Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, and Karl Kese ...

''. Liu then directed the sequel animated adaptation ''

Reign of the Supermen "The Death of Superman" is a Crossover (fiction), crossover story event featured in DC Comics' Superman-related publications. The crossover, which originated from editor Mike Carlin and writers Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Jerry O ...

'' and the animated film '' Justice League vs. the Fatal Five''. He then co-directed '' Wonder Woman: Bloodlines'' with Justin Copeland which came with the DC Showcase: Death short which he solo produced and directed. He then directed the standalone film '' Superman: Red Son'', which he also co-produced. Most recently, he directed and co-produced another standalone film, '' Batman: Soul of the Dragon''.

References

External links

*
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Interview

All-Star Superman Interview
Living people American people of Chinese descent American animators American animated film directors American animated film producers Place of birth missing (living people) Art Center College of Design alumni American storyboard artists University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-animator-stub