Sam Ellison is a camera operator, cinematographer and documentary filmmaker based in New York City. He has been nominated three times for Camera Operator of the Year by the Society of Camera Operators, for his work on The Penguin (2024), Severance (2022) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).

His debut feature documentary, Chèche Lavi (Looking for Life), premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January 2019, winning Best Cinematography at the Atlanta Film Festival 2020 and Best Documentary Director at RiverRun 2020. Chèche Lavi has played at more than 40 festivals around the world.

Sam’s other credits include Nickel Boys (2024), Ann Lee (2025), The Jinx (2024), I Know This Much is True (2020), and Academy Award winner Manchester By The Sea (2016).

He received his BA from Harvard in 2008 and his MFA from Stanford in 2017.

photo by Atsushi “Jima” Nishijima