Sam Longoria (born March 12, 1956, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 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 as 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 fo ...

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 in

Enumclaw, Washington Enumclaw ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 12,543 at the 2020 census. The Enumclaw Plateau, on which the city resides, was formed by a volcanic mudflow (lahar) from Mount Rainier approximately 5,700 ...

, 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 ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', ''

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''

Captain EO ''Captain EO'' is a 1986 American 3D science fiction short film shown at several Disney theme parks from 1986 until 1998. The film, starring Michael Jackson, was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film was shown as part of an attraction with ...

''. In 1985, he photographed President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in the White House for a large-format film documentary. In 1992, he created 35 mm 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 stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...

's production of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American 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 advo ...

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

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

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 sit ...

. In the 1990s, Longoria built camera electronics for the 1994 film ''

Terminal Velocity Terminal velocity is the maximum speed attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It is reached when the sum of the drag force (''Fd'') and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity (''FG ...

'', optically enlarged

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Sheen has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as ...

and

Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

Super 8 mm Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The formal name for Super 8 is 8-mm Type S, distinguishing it from the ...

home movies for the 1999 film ''

Five Aces ''Five Aces'' is a 1999 black comedy drama film written, produced and directed by David Michael O'Neill. It stars Charlie Sheen, Christopher McDonald, Jeff Cesario, Michael McGrady, Tia Carrere, Geoffrey Lewis, and Matt Clark. The film was rele ...

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

Dante's Peak ''Dante's Peak'' is a 1997 American disaster 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 inhabitant ...

'', 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 The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued app ...

" 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 p ...

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 t ...

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

External links

Official website

Longoria's filmmaking blog
*

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