Paul M. Sammon is an author, filmmaker, Hollywood insider and one of the most respected and knowledgeable writers on film working today. He has published numerous articles, short stories and books. His many film journalism pieces have seen print in The Los Angeles Times, Empire magazine, The American Cinematographer, Cahiers du Cinema and Cinefex. Sammon is also the author of the books Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner (1996, 2017), The Making of Starship Troopers (1997), Ridley Scott: Close-Up (1999), Alien: The Illustrated Screenplay (2000), Aliens: The illustrated Screenplay (2001), and Conan the Phenomenon (2007). He further edited the groundbreaking “extreme horror” anthologies Splatterpunks (1990) and Splatterpunks 2 (1995).
Sammon does not only write about films-he works in them as well. He first entered the industry as a publicist in the 1970s, before becoming a producer, director, special effects coordinator, computer graphics supervisor, second unit director, still photographer, electronic press kit producer, and Vice President of Marketing Special Promotions for a major studio.
Some of the scores of films on which he worked include Robocop, Platoon, Blue Velvet, Conan the Barbarian, Dune, Return of the Living Dead, The Silence of the Lambs, and Starship Troopers. He was likewise among the first “genre marketers” to present studio film promotions at the San Diego Comic-Con International, beginning in the late 1970’s.
In 1988, Sammon also cowrote, in Moscow, Stereotypes, the first animated film coproduction between Russia and the United States. In addition, for five years Sammon was the American coproducer of a number of Japanese television shows, including the long running entertainment program Hello! Movies (1988-1993).
Sammon was closely involved with the 2007/25th anniversary rerelease of Ridley Scott’s classic 1982 SF film Blade Runner on DVD and the Internet as well as the restored Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Among his other contributions, Sammon was extensively interviewed on camera for Dangerous Days, the definitive 3½ hour Blade Runner documentary.
He still remains fascinated by Blade Runner, and is honored to have written Future Noir, which has been in continuous print since its initial publication in 1996 and was recently updated/revised for a brand-new third edition published by HarperCollins in September 2017. Sammon is likewise humbled by the continuing popularity of Future Noir – a book that hardcore fans have nicknamed the “Blade Runner Bible,” and mainstream critics have celebrated as one of the definitive books on the making of any film.
Paul M. Sammon still writes today, still loves movies, can’t stop reading if he tried, and travels the world giving public appearances to talk about films, pop-culture and books.
COVER TO Conan the Phenomenon
COVER TO 2017 EDITION OF FUTURE NOIR: THE MAKING OF BLADE RUNNER
Cover to previous edition of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
Paul M. Sammon (left) with Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer