ScreenTalk

Sam Pillsbury – Quiet and Crooked Earth

Posted on 24 February 2010

 

Sam Pillsbury is a self-described American-Kiwi who has made films in both New Zealand and the US. He began his prolific career at the National Film Unit directing the notable documentaries Ralph Hotere and Men and Supermen. In 1975 he directed the award-winning Birth with R.D. Laing, which became a teaching aid in hospitals around the world. Pillsbury’s first feature film was The Scarecrow starring John Carradine, which was the first New Zealand film to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival.

Pillsbury co-wrote the script for The Quiet Earth, but “fired himself” from the director role on the movie. His next major film was Starlight Hotel which was received well overseas but flopped in New Zealand. Pillsbury has directed a number of American TV movies and feature films including Free Willy 3 and Endless Bummer. His most recent Kiwi film was Crooked Earth starring Temuera Morrison.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Pillsbury talks about:

• How his documentary on Ralph Hotere changed the way art films were made
• The fun, chaos and deprivation of making Goodbye Pork Pie
• Mixing necrophilia into a children’s film on The Scarecrow
• Making breakfast for screen legend John Carradine
• Thinking The Quiet Earth was a dog but then watching it go on to commercial success
• The disappointing reaction to Starlight Hotel in New Zealand
• Getting great reviews in America and negative ones in New Zealand for Crooked Earth
• Feeling frustrated by the process of making movies in Hollywood
• How funders in New Zealand need to talk to directors rather than producers

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

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