Bill Immerman, Longtime Film Production Executive, Dies at 85

Bill Immerman, veteran executive at film companies including 20th Century Fox, AIP, Cannon Films and Yari Film Group, died June 24 in Los Angeles of natural causes.

Born Dec. 29, 1937 in New York, he graduated the U. of Wisconsin and obtained his J.D. at Stanford Law School. Before moving into entertainment, Immerman started his career as a deputy district attorney for the County of Los Angeles.

He joined American International Pictures as associate counsel in 1965, eventually heading up business affairs and serving as production executive on films including “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Wild In the Streets,” “Three In the Attic” and “An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe,” starring Vincent Price.

In 1972 Immerman became VP of business affairs at Twentieth Century Fox, representing Fox on the board of directors of the Motion Picture Association of American and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers. As senior executive VP at Fox, he helped oversee hits like “Star Wars,” “Young Frankenstein,” “The Omen” and “Silver Streak,” and was the executive in charge of the original Broadway production of “The Wiz.”

Immerman headed production companies including Scoric Prodictions, Salem Productions and Cinema Group and served as executive producer on films including “Take This Job and Shove It,” “Southern Comfort,” “Hysterical” and “High Point,” along with co-financing “Staying Alive,” “Star Trek II” and “Flashdance” with Paramount.

In 1990, Immerman became vice chairman of Cannon Pictures, and in 2000 he moved to Crusader Entertainment, which produced films including “Ray,” “Sahara” and “Danny Deckchair.”

At Yari Film Group, he served as senior executive VP and COO, overseeing productions including “The Illusionist” and “The Painted Veil.”

Immerman’s career continued at Nutmeg, RSVP and Tribune Pictures. Most recently he served as executive producer of the soon-to-be-released “Across the River and Into the Trees.”

He is survived by his wife Ginger, professionally known as Ginger Perkins; sons Scott and Eric and daughter Lara Myrene.

There will be a memorial “Going Away Party” for Immerman on July 21 at the Skirball Center; email [email protected] to RSVP.

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