Cirio H. Santiago
Producer/director Cirio H. Santiago is the son of Dr. Ciriaco Santiago, who founded Premiere Productions in Manila in 1946. He has two siblings. After starting out as a producer he started directing english-language movies in the early 70s. Santiago became one of the pioneers of the "Blaxploitation" genre by being one of the first to cast black actors and especially actresses as strong action heroes. Movies like TNT Jackson (1974) became instant cult classics. In the 80s, Santiago became known for his numerous low-budget Vietnam war movies such as Firehawk (1993) which gave him a reputation as the "master of the Vietnam war genre". A long running production partnership with Roger Corman assured proper distribution of his movies in the USA. Many of today's hottest filmmakers such as Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante or Carl Franklin got their first directing jobs with Santiago. In 1995 he was named president of the Philippines Film Development Funds by President Ramos. The organization strives to uplift the quality of Filipino filmmaking to new, higher standards and to encourage production of foreign movies on location in the Philippines. Premiere Productions, headed by Cirio H. Santiago, still remains one of the biggest studios in the Philippines and went public in 1997.
Known for
DirectingBirthday
January 18, 1936Deathday
September 26, 2008Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
93Place of birth
Manila, PhilippinesAlso known as
Leonard Hermes, Cirio SantiagoCast credits
Crew credits
Stryker
Director, ProducerDemon of Paradise
Director, Screenplay, ProducerWomen in Cages
ProducerThe Big Bird Cage
ProducerThe Devastator
Director, ProducerCover Girl Models
Director, ProducerThe Hot Box
ProducerEqualizer 2000
Director, ProducerDeath Force
Director, StoryHappy Days Are Here Again
DirectorFuture Hunters
DirectorNaked Vengeance
Director, ProducerFly Me
DirectorUp from the Depths
ProducerKill Zone
Director, ProducerOperation Balikatan
Director, ProducerDoble Kara
DirectorThe Big Doll House
ProducerAma Namin
Executive ProducerEbony, Ivory & Jade
Director