Adam Somner, Assistant Director and Producer for Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, Dies at 57
variety.comPat Saperstein Deputy Editor Adam Somner, a respected assistant director and producer for filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alejandro Inarritu and Ridley Scott, died Wednesday of thyroid cancer in Studio City.
He was 57. Most recently, Somner served as producer and assistant director on Anderson’s upcoming Warner Bros. film starring Leonardo Di Caprio.
He was part of the producing team for Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” which was nominated for a best picture Oscar. Born in the U.K., Somner got his start assisting on films such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” before moving into assistant directing.
He was third assistant director on Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and continued working with the director on numerous films including “West Side Story,” “Ready Player One,” “Lincoln,” “Munich” and “War of the Worlds.” Spielberg remembered Somner in a statement, saying, “The job title ‘assistant director’ is insufficient to describe what Adam Somner was to me and the contribution he made to my films — just as my left arm is more than just an assistant to my right.
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