Emmy-nominated filmmaker Catherine Cyran dies at 59

WASHINGTON: Daytime Emmy-nominated director of more than 20 features, Catherine Cyran, passed away on Christmas Eve, according to multiple social media posts from those close to her.

She was 59. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a USA-based entertainment news outlet, the filmmaker passed away on December 24 in Vancouver, B.C., following a battle with cancer.

Before emerging as director in the 1990s, Cyran established herself as a screenwriter, with credits on films such as 1990's "Slumber Party Massacre III" and "A Cry in the Wild," the 1990 adaptation of Gary Paulsen's novel "Hatchet", the variety reported.

She made her feature film directorial debut with the 1993 sequel "White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II," for which she earned an Emmy nomination. Cyran entered the entertainment industry working as an executive assistant under the seminal director Roger Corman. Under Corman, Cyran wrote and produced titles such as "Dead Space", "Uncaged", "Fire on the Amazon" starring Sandra Bullock and "Kiss Me a Killer" which earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Cyran also served as a ghostwriter for "Frankenstein Unbound", Corman's final feature as a director. Later for Fox Family Television Studios, she wrote and directed the thrillers "Dangerous Waters" and "Hostile Intensions."

She then took to helming television movies at ABC Family, directing Christmas films such as "Christmas Do-Over," "Homecoming for the Holidays," "Christmas Duet" and "Cross Country Christmas." Cyran also developed the martial arts series "Bloodfist" and served as a writer on Universal productions such as "Werewolf" and "The Beast Among Us", variety reported.

Other notable directorial credits include three of the four entries in "The Prince & Me" series, "Victoria Gotti: My Father's Daughter" and "True Heart." Before starting her career in film, the Brooklyn native received her MBA from Harvard and relocated to London to work as a management consultant for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

After coming back to the states, she advised political campaigns in Massachusetts on various issues and briefly attended Stanford Business School, reported The Hollywood Reporter. Cyran also published one novel, "The Island of the Last Great Auk".

Her screenplay, titled "The Last Story" received the Canadian International Film Festival Award for excellence in writing. Her final film, "Our Italian Christmas Memories" starring Beau Bridges, aired on Hallmark a few weeks before her death.

Last year, Cyran decided to take the SAT test "just for fun". At the age of 58, she scored a perfect score of 1600, variety reported. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Cyran had been a part of the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of Canada, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for a very long time.