Best known for his work directing and producing special features for the first three Harry Potter DVDs and the Van Helsing DVD, Samstags' work on Van Helsing was featured in an article by American Cinematographer Magazine and his documentary WAR & TRUTH was featured in The American Prospect.

His documentary feature film, WAR & TRUTH, won Best Documentary at the Annapolis Film Festival in November 2005 and the Director's Choice Award at the Secret City Film Festival in 2007. In 2014, Samstag teamed with fellow filmmaker Josh Gildrie to form Rescue Docs Media which then created the documentary, TALES IN FLIGHT now available on DVD and On Demand. Their latest documentary, A Southern Fix, will be available at select film festivals in 2016.

A 1989 graduate of Hampshire College, Samstag is also the founder of FILM SCORE and the Scruffy City Film and Music Festival.