Pixabay Christmas wreath at a gravesite
A rep for filmmaker Catherine Cyran has confirmed that the director, producer, and screenwriter died on Christmas Eve — weeks after her final film, “Our Italian Christmas Memories,” premiered on Hallmark Channel. According to Variety, the Emmy-nominated director died in Vancouver, B.C., on December 24, 2022, of cancer at age 59. Here’s what you need to know:
Fellow Filmmakers & Stars React to News of Catherine Cyran’s Death
Cyran’s final movie was one of multiple projects she worked on for Hallmark. In early September, she wrapped filming on “Our Italian Christmas Memories” starring Beau Bridges and Sarah Power, which premiered on November 12 as part of Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas event.
On August 27, she posted an Instagram photo of her going over details on-set with Bridges and wrote, “With my dear, dear Beau on ‘Christmas Italiano.'” The famous actor has not commented publicly on Cyran, but others who worked with her have begun to issue statements.
Rhonda Dent, who has appeared in multiple Hallmark movies including 2019’s “My One and Only” and 2021’s “Chasing Waterfalls,” worked with Cyran on the 2019 Lifetime movie “Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter.” In a Facebook post, the actress remembered Cyran as “bright, sparkly and inspiring.”
“Very saddened to read the news of the passing of Vancouver Film director @catherine.cyran from Cancer,” she wrote. “I know many of us had the privilege of working with Catherine in our film industry. Catherine was super special to me as she was the first director to cast me in a life changing project for me ‘The Victoria Gotti Story’. Catherine was such a bright, sparkly and inspiring personality who directed whole heartedly with pure love respect and passion. She will be truly missed in our community.”
Crew members on Cyran’s films have also shared their sadness about her passing, including production assistant and grip Gary B. Bigger Jr., who revealed in an emotional Facebook post with multiple photos just how close he’d grown with the director over the years.
“Today we lost a beautiful soul, Catherine Cyran,” he wrote on December 24. “This Christmas Eve you slipped through my fingers peacefully…My mentor & director who truly loved me…I never thought angels existed till now. I miss you Bobcat”
Fellow filmmaker Jus Alexandra Percy wrote, “Oh Gary. I’m so sorry to hear this. Catherine was a wonderful woman. I’m grateful to have gotten the chance to work with her. My heart is with you.”
Catherine Cyran Went From Screenwriter to Director, Working on Multiple Hallmark Movies
Before beginning her directorial career in the 1990s, Cyran worked as a screenwriter on a wide range of films, from horror flicks to a movie adaptation of Gary Paulsen’s kids’ novel, “Hatchet.” According to Variety, she received an Emmy nomination for her feature film directorial debut in 1993, with the movie “White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II.”
Learning the ropes as an executive assistant under prolific producer and director Roger Corman, who also mentored other storied filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Jonathan Demme, Variety said Cyran wrote and produced titles such as “Dead Space” starring Bryan Cranston, “Uncaged” with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and “Fire on the Amazon” starring Sandra Bullock.
In addition to “Our Italian Christmas Memories,” according to IMDb, Cyran’s career included four other Christmas movies for Hallmark, including:
- 2020’s “Cross Country Christmas” with Rachel Leigh Cook and Greyston Holt
- 2020’s “Christmas With the Darlings” with Katrina Law and Carlos Marks
- 2019’s “A Homecoming for the Holidays” starring Laura Osnes
- 2019’s “A Christmas Duet” with Chaley Rose and Rome Flynn
Cyran also directed the 2021 “Matchmaker Mysteries: The Art of the Kill” movie with Danica McKellar and Victor Webster.