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
92Place of birth
Manila, PhilippinesAlso known as
Leonard Hermes, Cirio Santiago![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/t3BEFVEV7efwNFojF0JDLS4Ld70.jpg)
Cast credits
Crew credits
![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/bi70VjACRZExyfdvNesSibuByXi.jpg)
Stryker
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/eNx1hqwbmhj2Cn6z87bXXNrOaMr.jpg)
Demon of Paradise
Producer, Director, Screenplay![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/1lO5o4si8JPPFi7XAGlFH5az4Yp.jpg)
The Big Bird Cage
Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/9T2l80ismzQvqK7xEveOkX46Sb8.jpg)
The Devastator
Producer, Director![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/aRVNk7GkeXIEGLZzQZLLNboaVBK.jpg)
Cover Girl Models
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/v25M35QJVhKUkIvQvgbgl87NGeU.jpg)
Equalizer 2000
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/vknbhM7czBYASHYXXQIkFk3kIT6.jpg)
Death Force
Director, Story![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/x06bm9W2q3qdfYHoSlynxeZkUdB.jpg)
Future Hunters
Director![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/662l7btCuI4ly4ovLs6QJYlhhoD.jpg)
Fly Me
Director![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/llw8lhm35W8X3AOQaAhAYXzWtGP.jpg)
Kill Zone
Producer, Director![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/3izTTR492CGqSLTeDGgZMNDwHjZ.jpg)
Operation Balikatan
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/svvvIuMOqoHkIkrDi2ifZlVnT4c.jpg)
Naked Vengeance
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/pskHeZCsUgSZDTOUGFPnuJsNfsd.jpg)
Up from the Depths
Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/sPqNHV8kOXZ0QGhxDuQt7duAtre.jpg)
Ebony, Ivory & Jade
Director![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/e5siWiWkRyVc7syNBjajrhNGigV.jpg)
Firecracker
Story, Screenplay, Director, Executive Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/bQPhIDA9jbM39HIsbICudkkJe5b.jpg)
TNT Jackson
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/arGiL9XDbCQlAXNcVj9uUlcwApB.jpg)
The Muthers
Director, Writer, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/mrU8GRu6jccyDXdUdqw686tPEku.jpg)
Angelfist
Director, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/8G6fFGjKLNsgUX2wQP6z6goVBJ.jpg)
Final Mission
Director![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/xlENZzbGU092R5uTi1IuqPfcHVg.jpg)
Silk
Director, Story, Associate Producer, Producer![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/c0fx4ZIu4lTSCPZSDC0HobcV2zA.jpg)
Wheels of Fire
Director, Producer