Emmy Award winning producer, director, and actor Ash Christian dies in his sleep at the age of 35

Ash Christian has died at the age of 35.

The Emmy Award winning actor, producer, and filmmaker passed away in his sleep, while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on August 14, as reported by the Dallas Voice on Saturday.

No further details have been released regarding Ash’s sudden passing. 

Christian first gained notoriety in the film world upon the release of his feature Fat Girls, which earned him the award for Outstanding Emerging Talent at Outfest in 2006. 

Not only did Christian direct Fat Girls, which first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, but he also wrote the screenplay and starred in it. He was just 19.

In 2014, he took home a Daytime Emmy Award for the short film mI Promise, which, according to its official synopsis, revolved around ‘a teenager on the cusp of her first romance, is overwhelmed by a feeling of independence that her first car provides.’ 

Over the span of his career, Christian has produced a number of award-winning films under his production company Cranium Entertainment, which he established in 2003.

Those films include well known titles, such as Hurricane Bianca, 1985, Hello Again, Social Animals, and Coyote Lake. 

Ash had several projects in the works, many set to begin filming this year, prior to his untimely death, including ‘As Sick As They Made Us, Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut starring Dustin Hoffman, Candice Bergen and Simon Helberg,’ according to Deadline.

He was also set to produce the upcoming action comedy film Chick Fight, starring Malin Åkerman, Alec Baldwin and Bella Thorne.

Christian’s passion for film and television began in his youth, while growing up in Paris, Texas and involving himself in community theater.

By the age of 14, he was already creating his own short films, which inspired him to make the move to Los Angeles at the age of 16 to take a stab at acting. 

During a stint living in New York City, Ash involved himself in the Broadway world, which led him to producing the Tony Award winning musical, Next to Normal. 

Aside from his impressive directing and producing career, Christian also put his acting chops on display in a plethora of television shows, from CBS’ The Good Wife to NBC’s long running crime series Law and Order.  

Upon learning the news of his death, Ash’s producing partner Anne Clements described Ash as ‘a great friend, colleague and partner in crime.’ 

‘He was a champion of indie film and filmmakers and his love of the process of putting movies together was infectious. My heart goes out to his family, especially his mother. The world lost one of the good ones,’ she told Deadline.

Another one of Ash’s producing partners Jordan Yale Levine said that working with the prolific director was ‘always fun’ and that that was ‘the effect he had on people.’

I will miss my good friend dearly, as I know so many others will as well. The world has lost a talented writer/director/producer, but most importantly, a great person who had so much more life to live,’ concluded Levine, who recently worked on the film After Everything with Christian, starring Marissa Tomei, Gina Gershon and Jeremy Allen White.