Sandra Luckow was born in Centralia, Washington, and spent her childhood in Clackamas, Oregon. She had an eclectic upbringing, training as a figure skater, performing as a ventriloquist, working in strawberry fields, and helping out at her family's tropical fish store.
Luckow was an excellent student and graduated valedictorian from Clackamas High School. She was the first person in her school's history to be accepted to Yale University, where she double-majored in American Studies and Film Studies.
At Yale, Luckow discovered her passion for filmmaking and made a documentary film for her senior project. The film won the Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Creative Arts, and it later became a key reference point for documentaries about Tonya Harding, including "I, Tonya."
After graduating from Yale, Luckow enrolled in the MFA program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she concentrated in writing and directing. She met her long-time collaborator, Peggy Flood, while working as a paralegal and co-wrote her thesis film, "True or False," which won several awards.
Luckow has worked with numerous industry icons, including Frances Coppola and Paul Schrader, and has made several documentary shorts, including the award-winning "A World Within: A Miniature Portrait." She has also taught film production at Yale University and has developed a unique production program at Yale Summer Sessions.
Luckow has been involved in several projects, including adapting a screenplay based on the life of Dr. Barth Hoogstraten, "Blind Man's Bluff," and making a feature-documentary about her brother's struggle with untreated schizophrenia, "That Way Madness Lies...," which won several awards.
She has been named as 2018 Artist-in-Residence at Columbia University's Global Mental Health Program and has received a NEA Award Grant. Luckow is a proud member of the International Documentary Association, New York Women in Film and Television, and the Director's Guild of America.
