Steven Flynn, the advertising strategist whose campaigns powered best-picture winners “Dances With Wolves,” “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Fargo,” died on May 23 after a four-year fight with renal cancer, his family said; he was 70.
A Michigan native who began as a United Artists theater manager, Flynn moved to the studio side in 1990 when Orion Pictures hired him vice-president of field publicity and exhibitor relations, a post that placed him at the centre of Orion’s awards-season push for “Wolves” and, the following year, “Lambs.” Trade reports from the period note that he “implemented national promotional campaigns and worked with exhibitors” during Orion’s record run.
He joined Gramercy Pictures in the mid-1990s and soon oversaw the offbeat thriller “Fargo,” which won the Coen brothers their first Oscar for screenplay and cemented the label’s reputation for prestige genre fare. When Universal folded Gramercy into Focus Features in 2002, Flynn became executive vice-president of marketing, steering campaigns for the specialty arm during a period when Focus rose to prominence in art-house distribution.
Colleagues remember his instinct for matching films to audiences. Publicist Madelyn Hammond, who worked alongside him at several festivals, called Flynn “a born storyteller who could spot the emotional centre of a movie in a single viewing.” Former Focus chairman James Schamus once described Flynn’s trailer cuts as “miniatures of cinema—sharp, elegant and never oversold,” crediting those spots for luring reluctant viewers to specialised releases.
After leaving Focus in 2009, Flynn consulted for Edge Entertainment Marketing and mentored junior executives through UCLA Extension’s entertainment-marketing programme, roles he maintained until treatment curtailed travel last year. Industry groups, including the Motion Picture Academy’s public-relations branch, posted tributes citing his generous advice to newcomers and his unfailing attendance at early-morning research screenings.
Flynn is survived by his partner of forty-three years, Timothy Kraus, brother Kevin and sister-in-law Marie; services will be held June 8 at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills with a public celebration to follow during the fall festival circuit.