Catherine cyran dies: daytime emmy-nominated filmmaker was 59

Catherine Cyran, the Daytime Emmy-nominated director of more than 20 features, died on Christmas Eve, according to multiple Facebook posts from those close to her. While a cause of death has

not yet been reported, she was 59. “Today we lost a beautiful soul, Catherine Cyran..This Chriatmas Eve You slipped through my fingers peacefully,” wrote Gary B Bigger Jr. on December 24.

“My mentor & director who truly loved me…I never thought angels existed till now.” The Brooklyn-born Cyran was a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford Business School who also regularly

worked as a writer and producer, over the course of her more than 30-year career. Her introduction to the world of filmmaking came as the writer-producer for assorted low-budget films from

Roger Corman — first among them, such titles as _A Cry in the Wild_, _Slumber Party Massacre III_ and _Bloodfist II_.  Cyran’s breakthrough as a director came in 1993 with _White Wolves: A

Cry in the Wild II_ — a family adventure pic, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy, in the category of Outstanding Directing in a Children’s Special. Additional directing credits

for the multi-hyphenate included the river-rafting pic_ Dangerous Waters_; the Showtime horror _Sawbones_; the actioner _True Heart _with Kirsten Dunst; three of four installments in the

_Prince & Me_ series of rom-coms; and the holiday comedy _Christmas Do-Over_ with Jay Mohr, to name just a few. Cyran’s final film was one of many holiday-themed titles she made for TV

over the years — a rom-com titled _Our Italian Christmas Memories_, with three-time Emmy winner Beau Bridges, which bowed on Hallmark in November. WATCH ON DEADLINE A member of the Writers

Guild of America, as well as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the Directors Guild of Canada, Cyran also notably penned a YA novel titled _Island of the Last Great Auk_,

which was based on her own award-winning screenplay, _The Last Story_.  Memorial plans have not yet been disclosed.