This director of off-beat comedies spent many years as a marketing executive overseeing distribution at Spectrafilm in the 1980s. Sam Irvin began his career as an assistant to Brian De Palma, serving as associate producer and production manager on the low-budget comedy "Home Movies" (1979). He also worked as a production assistant on De Palma's thriller "Dressed To Kill" (1980).

But for much of the 1980s, Irvin worked at the distribution house, Spectrafilm, working his way from marketing to special projects, including designing posters. During this time, the company distributed many US and