Directing
Community Rating
4.5
TMDB estimate
Born
January 18, 1936
Died
September 26, 2008 (age 72)
Born in
Manila, Philippines
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.

Water Wars
as Director
2014

Machete Maidens Unleashed!
as Self
2010

The Hunt for Eagle One
as Co-Producer
2006

Bloodfist 2050
as Director, Producer
2005

Captain Barbell
as Executive Producer
2003

Operation Balikatan
as Director, Producer
2003

Home Alone da Riber
as Writer
2002

Harold Robbins' Body Parts
as Producer
2001

Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time
as Director
2000

Ama Namin
as Executive Producer
1998

Wild Grass
as Executive Producer
1997

Vulcan
as Story, Director, Producer
1997
Terminal Virus
as Producer
1995

Angel of Destruction
as Producer
1994

Ultimatum
as Director
1994

One Man Army
as Director, Producer
1994

Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom
as Producer, Director
1994

Stranglehold
as Director
1994

Live by the Fist
as Director, Producer
1993

Angelfist
as Director, Producer
1993