Oliver Stone has paid tribute to Moritz Borman, the producer behind several of his most ambitious films, following Borman’s death on July 1 in Munich at age 71. Borman died of natural causes while working on a new project with longtime partners Eric Kopeloff and Philip Schulz-Deyle, according to Deadline.
Stone and Borman first teamed on 2004’s “Alexander,” a partnership the director credited with opening the door to some of his later work. “Moritz Borman produced and was instrumental in allowing us to make Alexander in 2004,” Stone said.
Their collaboration continued through “World Trade Center,” “W.,” “Savages” and 2016’s “Snowden,” Stone’s most recent completed feature before he began shooting “White Lies,” now in production. That film, which Stone also wrote, follows a man across three generations grappling with patterns of divorce and self-destruction in his own family, and stars Josh Hartnett, Michael Douglas, Willem Dafoe and Ellen Barkin.
Born in Germany in 1955, Borman started his career as a television director and producer before relocating to Los Angeles to study at the American Film Institute. His first Hollywood credit came on John Huston’s 1984 drama “Under the Volcano,” which earned two Oscar nominations.
He went on to produce more than 25 features over four decades, including “The Quiet American,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “Terminator Salvation,” “The Crow: Salvation” and “K-19: The Widowmaker.” In 1997 he founded Pacifica Pictures, whose slate included “Nurse Betty” and “Where the Money Is.”
Kopeloff and Schulz-Deyle, who had been working alongside Borman on an untitled legal drama for Netflix directed by John Lee Hancock, announced his death in a joint statement. They said Borman helped shape the landscape of independent filmmaking, building bridges between Europe and Hollywood. The pair added that he had recently seen the Hancock project enter production after years of development, and that they intend to complete it in his honor.
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Borman also devoted decades to wildlife conservation, chairing the Tony Fitzjohn/George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust for more than 30 years. Tributes from collaborators across the industry continued to circulate following news of his death.
