Sam Mercer, Producer on M. Night Shyamalan Movies and ILM Executive, Dies at 69

variety.com:

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sam Mercer, producer on several M. Night Shyamalan movies and former head of ILM, died Feb. 12 of younger onset Alzheimer’s in South Pasadena.

He was 69. Raised in Weston, Mass., he attended Occidental College and then started working as a location manager on 1980s classics including “Stripes,” “The Escape Artist,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Swing Shift,” “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “The Witches of Eastwick.” He joined the Walt Disney Company as a production executive, supervising films including “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Three Fugitives” and “Dead Poets Society.” He then became VP of motion picture production at Hollywood Pictures, where he oversaw releases including “Quiz Show,” “The Joy Luck Club,” “Born Yesterday,” “Swing Kids,” “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and “Arachnophobia.” Mercer then worked as an independent producer, starting with “Congo,” “The Relic” and “Mission to Mars.” After working with Shyamalan on “The Sixth Sense,” then went on to produce six more films together: “Unbreakable,” “Signs,” “The Village,” “Lady in the Water,” “The Happening” and “The Last Airbender.” He also had production credits on “Jarhead,” “Van Helsing,” “Things We Lost in the Fire,” “Snow White and the Huntsman,” “Heaven is for Real” and “The BFG.” In 2015, he became head of Disney/Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic, overseeing all four global locations. “Sam and I started working together when I was in my mid-twenties.

He taught me that the culture of a set comes from the top down. He led with kindness and showed me how to navigate pressure with grace.