Biography

Sam Ruesink is a filmmaker originally from Watertown, Wisconsin who studied producing at Columbia College Chicago. He resides in Chicago and previously also briefly lived and worked in Los Angeles.

He has worked as Post Production Manager and Technical Manager at Kurtis Productions since 2020. There, he oversaw the post-production workflow for CNBC's long-running docuseries "American Greed," coordinating between producers, editors, and the network, handling all media organization and gear- including shipping and logistics for location shoots and doing occasional on-set work in the capacity of a grip, DIT, and also the occasional blurry-faced dead body, fraudster, or FBI agent on the show (as a cameo/stand-in). As of 2024, he worked on 36 new episodes of "American Greed," 2 "Biggest Cons" spinoff specials, 18 "Bonus Edition" repackaged episodes, and a mockumentary Saul Goodman American Greed web special created as an April Fool's Day promo for the release of Better Call Saul Season 6, created as a co-production between CNBC and AMC.

Sam has also worked in feature film development at Heidi Jo Markel's Eclectic Pictures, and on WGN late-night comedy show "Man of the People with Pat Tomasulo." He has also produced, edited, and directed numerous short films that have played at several film festivals.

His first feature documentary as a Producer/Editor, created in collaboration with Grant Osum, "Minnesota Tiger Man," centered on the exotic animal trade, focusing on a criminal trial that took place outside of Minneapolis, incorporating a multitude of interviews and archival content. The film played at over 15 film festivals, winning multiple awards before receiving a distribution deal with Questar Entertainment. Soon after, the film was acquired by multiple prominent streaming platforms.

His second feature documentary as an editor, a work in progress since 2021 as a collaboration with director/DOP Connor Nelson, centers on the ever-increasing issue of forest fires, primarily through the context of the East Troublesome fire that took place in Grand County, Colorado. As of 2024 the film has over 35 interviews and a multitude of archival content captured by fire victims, residents, and first responders. The film is currently in post-production.

Sam also freelances as a location sound mixer and live event broadcast camera operator, working on a variety of projects spanning commercial, documentary, concert, sports, and narrative fiction.
- IMDb mini biography by: Sam Ruesink