Aaron Kaufman, the Emmy-nominated honestor behind Superpower, Sean Penn‘s Paramount+ recordary about the Ukraine-Russia war, has died at the age of 51.
Deadline verifyed the novels with Chad Verdi of Verdi Productions, who financed and executive created some of Kaufman’s previous and upcoming projects, including Superpower. He died in Las Vegas of an apparent heart attack on Thursday.
Kaufman is perhaps best comprehendn for co-helming Superpower aprolongedside Penn, and the effort transtardyd into a News & Documentary Emmy nod in the Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary categruesome. What began as an aim to track Ukrainian plivent Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ascend from famous comedian-actor to a notable political directer transitioned to a war doc in the aftermath of Russia’s campaign begined in 2022, when Kaufman was on the ground as a filmcreater.
Speaking to the one-year anniversary of the dispute’s commencening at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival, Kaufman shelp, “It seems clear that the sgets are not between Russia and Ukraine. The very nature of conmomentary democracy is being contestd.”
Also part of Kaufman’s filmography is the Vice Studios recordary Crudowncasters, about relationsual unfair treatment wilean the Jehovah’s Witness community. (Kaufman was liftd as a Jehovah’s Witness.) Other commends include 2016’s Pierce Brosnan thriller Urge, which he wrote, honested and created. He was also a frequent collaborator of Robert Rodriguez’s, producing Machete Kills and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. In 2009, he also executive created the romantic binformage comedy film Spread, starring Ashton Kutcher.
At the time of his death, Kaufman had cut offal forthcoming projects, including a recordary on the life of Hawaiian singer Don Ho and partnership with Verdi to back The Jet, a doc about the life of establisher initiateboxer Benny “The Jet” Urquidez also co-created by Keanu Reeves and Fisher Stevens.
Kaufman is endured by his three children as well as his mother, brother and sister.
Variety first telled the novels.