Josh Kramer, Veteran Executive and Producer of Roman Polanski’s ‘Death and the Maiden,’ Dies at 67

Josh Kramer, a veteran Hollywood executive who produced such films as Roman Polanski’s Death and the Maiden and Sidney Lumet’s Night Falls on Manhattan, has died following a stroke. He was 67.

Kramer died Nov. 27 surrounded by family and friends in Santa Monica, according to a representative. The producer, who was a graduate of the American School in London, earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where he is said to have made a mark creating conceptual art pieces. He then went on to earn his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

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He began his entertainment industry career by working in foreign sales for legendary Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis, specializing in international presales of films by such directors as Sam Raimi, Michael Cimino, Bruce Beresford and David Cronenberg. One such title he shepherded was the iconic documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare.

Kramer went on to team with Thom Mount to form the Mount/Kramer Co. in the early 1990s. During their time together, they produced Polanski’s 1994 film Death and the Maiden, starring Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson, as well as Lumet’s 1996 film Night Falls on Manhattan, starring Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss and Lena Olin.

His résumé also includes stints at Capitol Films in London as head of sales and a position in international acquisitions at MGM Studios. In 2005, Kramer and his family moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington, located outside of Seattle, where he began a career at Amazon as the first licensing executive of Amazon Unbox. He and his team are credited with the expansion of Amazon Video through deals with TiVo, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Vizio, Roku and others.

Kramer went on to serve as director and head of motion picture business operations at Amazon Studios from 2014-2018. During that time, he worked on initial film projects like Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq, Kenneth Lonergan’s Oscar-winning film Manchester By the Sea and Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick. Upon leaving Amazon Studios, Kramer first worked as a managing partner at Resonance Content and later founded his own blockchain-focused company, BKopy.io, in 2021.

On the personal side, Kramer juggled many passions including time spent as a classical pianist, a published short fiction author, a potter, a knitter and, like his father, a self-taught computer whiz. He had recently started an acting class.

Kramer is survived by wife Kathie, son Jack, a brother Ken and an extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews.

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