Josh Kramer, who produced Roman Polanski’s Death and the Maiden and Sidney Lumet’s Night Falls on Manhattan and later led sales for Capitol Films before becoming Head of Motion Picture Business Operations at Amazon Studios, has died. He was 67.Kramer died November 27 in Santa Monica.Born on May 17, 1956, he began his showbiz career working for the Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, pre-selling foreign movie rights that would help finance films including Manhunter, Blue Velvet and others. Kramer was instrumental in the success of the 1991 concert pic Madonna: Truth or Dare, leading the acquisition of the film rights and then selling the film overseas.In the early 1990s, he teamed with Thom Mount to form the Mount/Kramer Company, which produced Death and the Maiden (1994) and Night Falls on Manhattan (1996).He went on to become the head of sales for Capitol Films, later joining international acquisitions at MGM. In 2005, he began his career at Amazon as the first licensing executive of Amazon Unbox. There he established the company’s relationships with major Hollywood studios and TV networks to build a comprehensive selection for Amazon’s new video platform. He and his team also were responsible for the expansion of Amazon Video through deals with TiVo, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Vizio, Roku and others.He headed Motion Picture Business Operations at Amazon Studios from 2014-18, playing a pivotal role in the studio’s early success. He wrote the original business plan for Amazon Studios’ movie division and devised distribution strategies that launched the studio’s early film projects including Chi-Raq, The Big Sick and Best Picture Oscar nominees Manchester by the Sea.After leaving Amazon Studios, Josh founded the blockchain service BKopy.io, in 2021 and served the managing partner of Resonance Content.Beyond his work, Kramer also was an accomplished classical pianist and published short fiction.Kramer is survived by his wife, Kathie; their son, Jack; a brother, Ken (sister-in-law Dee Dee); and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. A memorial was held December 17.
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