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Sam Green

Sam Green

Director, editor, producer and writer, also actor · Born January 1, 1966 (60) · East Lansing, Michigan, USA

Sam Green (born in 1966; East Lansing) is an American documentary filmmaker. His most recent projects are “live documentaries” including 32 Sounds (2022) with electronic musician JD Samson, A Thousand Thoughts (2018) in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, The Measure of All Things (2014), and The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller (2012), which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. All four works are performed live, with Green narrating and musicians performing the soundtrack. Green's 2004 film The Weather Underground was nominated for an Academy Award, included in the Whitney Biennial, and broadcast nationally on PBS.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
January 1, 1966 (60)
From
East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Works as
Director, editor, producer and writer, also actor
Titles
4 on MovieCove · 27 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 37 days to Oct 26Down 20% in 30 days

What are Sam Green's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
33%
Survival
21%
Ideas
21%
Morality
12%
Power
7%
Society
6%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 4 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 3 · Serious 1 · Dark 0

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0

Gentle: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their gentle movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 3 · Charged 1 · Intense 0

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 4 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1

Ambiguous: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their ambiguous movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 0 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 2

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative
4
Warm
2
Melancholic
2
Elegiac
2
Tense
1
Other
1

How their films linger

Thought-provoking3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Sam Green's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 1 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, on Tubi (1).

Subscription and free streaming for Sam Green's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

27 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page.

  • The Oldest Person in the World(2026)

    Director · Editor

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films

  • 32 Sounds(2022)

    Director · Editor · as Self - Narrator (voice)

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films

  • Annea Lockwood: A Film About Listening (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Director

  • 7 Sounds (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Director

  • Don’t Call Me Gay Zelig (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Director

  • And With Him Came The West(2019)

    Writer

    Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • A Thousand Thoughts (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Julius Caesar Was Buried in a Pet Cemetery (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director · Writer

  • This is What the Future Looked Like (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • The Measure of All Things (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

    Director

  • Love Letter to the Fog (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

    Director

  • A Cinematic Study of Fog in San Francisco (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

    Director

  • The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Director

  • (Commissioned) Portrait of Las Vegas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

    Director

  • The Universal Language (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

    Director · Editor · Producer · Writer

  • Utopia in Four Movements (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Director · Editor · Producer

  • Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director · Producer

  • Clear Glasses (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    Director

  • Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    Editor

  • Lot 63, Grave C (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)

    Director · Editor

  • N Judah 5:30 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)

    Director

  • The Weather Underground(2002)

    Director · Editor · Producer

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • Pie Fight '69 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

    Director

  • The Making of Ladies and Gentlemen, Fabulous Stains (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Director

  • The Rainbow Man/John 3:16 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Director · Editor · Producer · Writer

  • The Ultimate Guide (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)

    Show 1 episode · Editor

  • Daisy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Writer

Career shape

A full career of 27 titles, 26 of them dated from 1996 to 2026.

Biggest box office

The Weather Underground (2002)

$565K worldwide

Highest rated

The Weather Underground (2002)

Midcredits 90th

Most popular right now

32 Sounds (2022)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing23 of 27: 13 only directing, 10 with another roleWriting6 of 27: 2 only writing, 4 with another roleProducing6 of 27: 0 only producing, 6 with another roleEditing9 of 27: 2 only editing, 7 with another role

27 titles, 10 with more than one role — directing and editing overlap on 7 of them.

By decade

1990s3 · crew2000s7 · crew2010s12 · crew2020s4 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Sam Green's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 84th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 83rd percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

83rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Approval · how many liked their films

80thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Reach · how many have seen their films

59thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Midcredits score across 4 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up3
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

None of their 4 titles divides audiences: 4 are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Crowd Pleaser4

Most loved · director, producer, editor

The Weather Underground (2002)

Midcredits 90th · 82% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 62/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 78, detractors 30. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Sam Green work with?

People who share at least 2 of Sam Green's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Yoni Brook shares the most, 2.

Cinematographers

Producers