Andras Hamori dead: “Crash” producer was 71 years old

Hungarian film and television producer Andras Hamori, who produced films such as “Crash” and “Sunshine” as well as shows such as “The Gate”, died on September 2nd. He was 71 years old.

Hamori’s other credits in the late 90s and early 2000s include films such as The Sweet Hereafter, eXistenZ, Max, Owning Mahowny and Formula 51. From 1991 to 1993, he produced all 66 episodes of “Tropical Heat,” and in 2014 he produced the History Channel miniseries “Houdini,” starring Adrien Brody.

Hamori started out as a film critic and short filmmaker in 1970s Budapest and was initially encouraged by Hungarian-Canadian theater director John Hirsch to move to North America and pursue his dreams as a film producer. In 1981, Hamori moved to Toronto, armed with a print of one of his shorts, and temporarily locked himself in Hirsch’s basement.

Hamori made his breakthrough working with fellow Hungarian Robert Lantos before becoming a partner at Alliance Entertainment, a leading Canadian film and television producer and distributor, operating from 1984 to 2013. Hamori later moved to Los Angeles, where he founded his own production company, H2O Motion Pictures.

“Hamori saw himself in the tradition of producers like the Hungarian Alexander Korda. “He was drawn to unique, visionary stories, often with a literary bent, that could sustain the passion needed to carry them through the years-long development, financing and production process,” reads Hamori’s official obituary. “He was also something of an amateur, happy to make the occasional cameo appearance in his own projects.”

Hamori is survived by his three children, Chloe, Ben and Jake.