Sam Pillsbury

Sam Pillsbury is an American film director, producer, and winemaker. Massachusetts-raised Sam Pillsbury emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 14. At age 23 he began working for the government-owned National Film Unit of New Zealand, joining a group of emerging filmmakers who were investigating new subjects and creative film making styles. Pillsbury directed seven films at the National Film Unit, including a multi-faceted study of artist Ralph Hotere, and a satirical look at workplace relations (Men and Supermen). He was also part of the directing team on Commonwealth Games chronicle Games '74, and worked both on set and at the editing bench for Paul Maunder's Gone Up North for a While. Pillsbury embarked on a solo career in 1975. His documentary, "Birth with R.D. Laing," garnered awards in both Australia and New Zealand, while also generating controversy in England and the United States. The film prominently showcased the outspoken Scottish psychiatrist, R.D. Laing, as he critiqued the Western medical approach to childbirth. Pillsbury also worked on four documentaries for TV slot Seven Days, which variously looked into life for a solo mother, an ex-convict, hospital patients, and young Māori in the city.