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Spotlight on: Sam Gowan ’63
 When Sam Gowan ’63 started a historical building preservation
group in Gainesville, Fla., he didn’t realize it would be a foray
into the movie business.
In what he describes as “a classically strange situation,” Gowan
was telephoned one day in 1976 by independent film director Victor Nunez,
who was looking for an old house in which to shoot a small feature film.
The pair became friendly and continued to work together, eventually formalizing
their partnership with the formation of Nunez-Gowan Productions, Inc.
Described as “ Florida’s greatest filmmaker,” Nunez
wrote and produced Ruby in Paradise, Coastlines and Ulee’s
Gold, which earned Peter Fonda an Academy Award nomination for best
actor. Gowan is credited as producer on all three films.
After graduating from Holy Cross, Gowan taught English and the humanities
through a graduate assistantship at the University of Florida. His interests
drew him into historic preservation, and he became a librarian at the
university—a job he left in 1998 to go full time into moviemaking.
Currently, the duo is at work on another independent feature film. In
addition, Gowan is raising money for a PBS series documenting the history
of Floridian architecture, in what he explains as “an attempt to
link these two parts of my life.” Alumni in Film Spotlights
Sam
Gowan '63 >
Kirk D'Amico '77 >
Michael Hogan '88 >
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