Adam Somner, Assistant Director and Producer for Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, Dies at 57

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.”

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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. He worked as AD, and producer and he performed both of those tasks with equal measures of devotion. He loved making movies. He loved being on the set. It was his gridiron. He was a cheerleader and ball carrier and at times I couldn’t tell if he was following my lead or I was following his. He made everyone who joined the crew feel like they were part of the family. He was a uniter and when things weren’t going according to plan, his English working-class wit and humor, could smooth out the problem through his under-the-breath cursing, laughter, and the backup plan he always seemed to have standing by. He was an icon in his field and an inspiration to anyone who wants a career in the mounting of productions — with the full recognition that it is as creative as it is organizational. Going back to work without Adam will never be the same.”

For Scorsese, Somner served as first assistant director and producer or co-producer on “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Scorsese said, “Adam Somner was credited as an Assistant Director and a Producer on three of my pictures, but his presence meant more to me and to the films than any credits could really even indicate. Adam had a very special and very particular set of qualities — the organizational abilities and the discipline of a general on the battlefield; a unique ability to work as closely with me or with any director as two dancers doing a routine or two musicians bouncing off each other; and an extraordinary artistry when it came to organizing and orchestrating movement in the frame. Adam Somner embodied and practiced all of it. I would never have been able to make ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ or ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ without him, and we were in the middle of planning another project. He passed away far too early, and I will miss him terribly. He loved ‘making pictures,’ as he put it. He was one of the finest collaborators I could ask for, and I know that my fellow directors would say the same.”

In addition to “Licorice Pizza” and the upcoming film, Somner’s collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson included “Phantom Thread,” “Inherent Vice,” “The Master” and “There Will Be Blood.”

Anderson said in a statement, “Adam loved making films more than anyone else ever in the history of the movie business. It was food and drink to him. He made everyone who worked with him feel safe. He saw everything from all sides at once and had a back up plan to the back up plan to the back up plan. He moved mountains and trucks and people like he was moving a salt shaker across a table. It was glorious to watch him work.

“He knew how to make a film better than anyone else. His intuition and talent was second only to how deeply funny and loving he was. Most of all and above everything, he was generous.

Somner’s films with Ridley Scott included “Black Hawk Down,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” “Gladiator” and “G.I. Jane.”

With Alejandro Inarritu, he served as second unit and assistant director on “The Revenant,” and was part of the DGA-award winning directing team. He also worked on “Birdman.”

He is survived by his wife Carmen Ruiz de Huidobro, his children Olivia and Bosco and his brother, Mark Somner.

A DGA scholarship in his name will be established with donation details forthcoming.