Biography

Lewis 'Lew' Horwitz (1935 – December 19, 2025) was an American film finance executive and producer. Horwitz entered the finance industry as a bank teller in the 1960s before he moved to Beverly Hills National Bank, where he founded an entertainment division. At the time, only First Bank of Boston and Bank of America were lending money to Hollywood studios. After founding the Lewis Horwitz Organization in 1980, he became known as the 'King of Indie Film Finance', a maverick who helped shepherd projects from development through completion by lending to independent productions against foreign presales, a model still in use today. Along the way, Horwitz helped bolster the careers of such notable producers as Roger Corman, Avi Lerner, Lloyd Kaufman, Stephen Paul, Mark Damon, and Arnold Kopelson. His work contributed to the development and financing of about 700 films during his career, among them Dawn of the Mummy (1981), Kickboxer (1989), Attack of the 50ft Woman (1993), Crash (1996), Jack Frost (1997), and The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). Horwitz retired in 2004, and became a consultant and helped arrange financing for films, including Oculus (2013), Pawn Sacrifice (2014), Mojave (2015), and The Lost City of Z (2016). Further, he was also a magician, incorporating his act into speeches at film markets to the delight of crowds. He was Anthony Hopkins’ magic consultant on Magic (1978), served as treasurer for The Magic Castle in Hollywood, and was a member of the Academy of Magical Arts’ Hall of Fame.

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