Scott Lew, writer and director, died on February 25 at his home in Valley Glen, CA, after a 15-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), Principato Young who managed Lew told Deadline. He was 48.
After receiving a master’s degree from the Peter Stark Producers Program at USC, Scott worked at IRS Records and developed scripts for Beacon Pictures. In 1999 he sold his screenplay, “Bickford Shmeckler’s Cool Ideas“ and joined the Writer’s Guild of America.
In 2003, Scott began his fight against ALS, which was documented in the film, “Jujitsu-ing Reality,” a shortlist entry for the Academy Awards Best Documentary Short in 2013. As his battle with ALS continued, Lew kept writing, traveling, making friends, and raising his family with wife Ann.
Later, while in a wheelchair, he directed “Bickford,” which was released in 2006. For the rest of his life he continued to sell his scripts to Hollywood studios, including USA, ABC, Sony Television, 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate. He was a writer on the TV series, “The Dead Zone,” and wrote the 2012 film “Sexy Evil Genius.”
Although paralyzed, in the last weeks of his life, he spelled out scripts to his assistant and his wife, one letter at a time, by twitching a corner of his mouth. He submitted his final screenplay, a comedy, this January.
Lew is survived by his wife Ann and their sons, Rocky and Roman. A California memorial will be held on Monday, March 13 at 9:30 AM at the Stephen Wise Temple, 15500 Stephen S. Wise Dr., Los Angeles.