Andrew Gunn has died at the age of 58. The Disney producer – who has worked on hit movies including Freaky Friday, Cruella, and Sky High – died following a battle with ALS.
In a touching tribute, film writer Blaise Hemingway shared: “Andrew Gunn’s legacy will go far beyond the movies he made; he’s the ‘godfather’ to more writers, producers, directors, and executives than I can count. So many of us owe our careers to Andrew Gunn.”
Shawn Ryan, a producer and writer known for The Shield, The Night Agent, and S.W.A.T., said: “Grieving the loss of our longtime family friend Andrew Gunn. This is the second friend (after Shield producer Scott Brazil) who I’ve lost to ALS, a truly horrific disease. My kids grew up very close to Andrew’s kids and I feel deeply for them all today.”
Andrew was diagnosed back in 2024 with the neurological degenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He died at home with his family in Toronto, they announced.
He was the key to the success of hit movie Freaky Friday. He pitched the idea to the studio head at the time and it was, of course, a huge success. Originally, Annette Bening, Michelle Trachtenberg and Tom Selleck had all been cast.
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However, due to scheduling conflicts, they weren’t able to go ahead and eventually Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were cast. Then studio head and motion pictures president Nina Jacobson said: “We made movies with genuine creative exuberance at that time and Andrew never had any shortage of that.
“On Freaky Friday, we were able to make a decision on a creative instinct and not by asking an algorithm on who to cast.” For Andrew, he worked on a number of great movies but his biggest success was his family.
He recalled how his children worked on the sequel, where he explained how they all came together on the Freakier Friday movie. He said: “The best part was my daughter worked in the camera department and got into the (cinematographers) union and my son worked in props. So I got to see them every day. I can’t express what that meant to me.”
In the 90s, he worked with Great Oaks Entertainment, a production company run by John Hughes. Speaking about them working together, Andrew said: “John Hughes told me that if you have earned it with comedy and real believable characters, it takes very little, Planes Trains & Automobiles being an example, to surprise the audience with tears they did not expect.”
Andrew is survived by his children, his wife Jane, mother Anne, and siblings Hilary Knight, Graeme Gunn and Cameron Gunn.
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