Sam Cullman is an Academy Award® nominated documentary filmmaker with over a decade of experience as a cinematographer, producer and director. The founder of Yellow Cake Films, Sam has worked in a wide range of settings - from presidential campaign trails, delivery rooms and refugee camps, to Bollywood soundstages, prisons and post-disaster zones. A graduate of Brown University (1999), where he majored in Urban Studies and Visual Arts, Sam lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
PAST PROJECTS:
ART AND CRAFT, working title (in production)
director, producer, and cinematographer
Following the curious story of a prolific art forger just as his thirty-year con is publicly revealed, this documentary feature, directed with Jennifer Grausman, uncovers an unfolding story of obsession and understanding -- and in-so-doing offers a wide-ranging dialogue on mental health, human connection, and the role of philanthropy and fine art in the 21st century.
THE HOUSE I LIVE IN (2012)
producer and cinematographer
Filmed in over twenty-five states around the US, this documentary feature, directed by Eugene Jarecki, examines the systemic racial and economic disparities in America's War on Drugs. Tracking intersecting stories in an array of communities, courts and prisons around the country, the film lends an unusual intimacy and depth to this decades long issue. A Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance 2012 and recipient of the "React to Film" Award at Silverdocs, the film will be distributed theatrically in the Fall of 2012 and broadcast in Winter 2013.
BLACK CHEROKEE (2012)
director, producer, editor and cinematographer
For over a decade and on a near-daily basis, Otis Houston Jr., a self-taught artist from Harlem, has performed before a captive audience of car-bound commuters passing through a natural bottleneck on Manhattan's FDR Drive. This documentary short explores the unique artist's work at a time of great productivity--and significant challenge as he's charged with caring for his beloved father who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. A meditation on family, inspiration, sanity and success, the film is a lyrical window into Houston's deep sense of duty, his raw charisma, and the dynamic beauty of his art. Directed in partnership with Benjamin Rosen, the piece will premiere this fall at a film festival in New York City.
IF A TREE FALLS (2011)
co-director, producer and cinematographer
This documentary feature centers around the story of Daniel McGowan, who grew up in Rockaway, Queens and traveled out West in the late 1990s to become involved with the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group that employed property destruction and arson to protest the ecological practices of industry and government in the US. Investigating the ELF and exploring how a working class kid (the son of a New York cop and a business major in college) found himself to be facing life in prison for "eco-terrorism," the film examines larger questions about environmentalism, activism, and terrorism in America today. The film, made in partnership with director Marshall Curry received the U.S. Documentary Editing Award at Sundance 2011 and then later, a nomination for a 2011 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award®.
PORTRAIT OF A CIGAR MAKER (2009)
director and cinematographer
Produced in six installments over three years, this hour-long documentary tracks the life and career of a cigar-maker on the cusp of his 90th birthday. The film is an exploration of a changing industry and the evolution of a man's life.
CDCP (2008)
director, cinematographer and co-editor
Exploring critical partnerships between police departments and mental health clinicians in a handful of cities across the US, this 20-minute film was commissioned by the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence and the Yale Child Study Center.
SELF SERVICE (2005)
director and cinematographer
Shot in five states with three groups of workers as they tried to organize a union, this 30-minute documentary was commissioned by the SEIU and the Alliance for Quality Services to encourage a large service industry employer to change its policies and practices.
GIULIANI TIME (2005)
assistant producer
This feature-length documentary (directed by Kevin Keating) profiles former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and his influence on the politics and culture of New York City in the late 1990s. The film deconstructs the man and examines the trends he set in motion which changed New York City forever.
BEYOND THE SPIN (2003)
director and cinematographer
Profiling the candidacies of Amb. Carol Moseley Braun, Sen. Bob Graham, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, these three separate documentary shorts were commissioned by the SEIU to educate members about the 2003 Democratic Presidential Candidates. The pieces provide snapshots of the candidates' platforms and personalities as they hit the road in the summer before the Primary.
MOTOWN MAGIC (2000)
co-director and cinematographer
This 30-minute documentary short, commissioned by the New York City Housing Authority, is a behind-the-scenes portrait of a Youth Chorus preparing for a performance at the Apollo Theater.
CINEMATOGRAPHY CREDITS:
WATCHERS OF THE SKY (in post-production), dir. Edet Belzberg
Cinematographer
[Sundance Documentary Fund recipient, 2008]
BOLLYWOOD (in production), dir. Niharika S. Desai
Director of Photography
THE DESCENT OF MAN (in production), dir. Matthew Chapman
Director of Photography
[BBC Storyville development fund]
REAGAN (2011), dir. Eugene Jarecki
Additional Photography
[Sundance Film Festival 2011, HBO airdate to follow]
BIG RIVER (2010), dir. Curt Ellis
Cinematographer
[BBC Storyville development fund]
THE FARM: 10 DOWN (2009), dir. Jonathan Stack
Additional Photography
[aired on National Geographic in 2009]
A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY? (2008), dir. Joseph Jacoby
Additional Photography
[aired on American Public Television in 2008]
LOCKUP: ANGOLA (2008), dir. Jonathan Stack
Director of Photography
[aired on MSNBC in 2008]
THE RECRUITER (2008) dir. Edet Belzberg
Additional Photography
[2007 Sundance Documentary Fund recipient, Sundance Film Festival 2008, aired on HBO in 2008]
KING CORN (2007), dir. Aaron Woolf
Director of Photography
[ITVS recipient, aired on Independent Lens in 2008, Peabody Award Winner in 2008]
WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY? (2007), dir. Rob VanAlkemade, prod. Morgan Spurlock
Additional Photography
[aired on Sundance Channel in 2008]
KAMP KATRINA (2007), dir. David Redmon and Ashley Sabin
Additional Photography
[Special Jury Prize, Independent Film Festival of Boston, and Best Documentary, Magnolia Film Festival, 2007]
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES (2006), dir. Peter Kunhardt
Additional Photography
[aired on PBS in 2006]
STREET FIGHT (2005), dir. Marshall Curry
Additional Photography
[Audience Awards at Hot Docs, SilverDocs, Tribeca Film Festival, 2005; POV airdate and theatrical release 2005; Academy Award Nomination for Best Documentary, 2006]
AMERICAN RULING CLASS (2005), dir. John Kirby
Additional Photography
[aired on Sundance Channel, 2006]
WHY WE FIGHT (2006), dir. Eugene Jarecki
Additional Photography
[Sundance 2005 Grand Jury Prize in documentary, Sony theatrical release 2006]
PLANE TRUTHS (2006), dir. Rielle Hunter
Director of Photography
[2008 Presidential candidate John Edwards' website]
A STADIUM STORY (2006), dir. Benjamin Rosen and Jevon Roush
Director of Photography
FLORIDA: A HEALTHY STATE (2004), dir. Aaron Woolf
Director of Photography
A BABY STORY (2004)
Director of Photography
[The Learning Channel]
WATCH THIS HOUSE (2003), dir. Ryan Junell
Director of Photography
[MTV music video]
UNPRECEDENTED: THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION (2002), dir. Richard Ray Perez and Joan Sekler
Additional Photography
