Tony Amatullo, an associate producer on TV series including Fame and Miami Vice and later an exec producer on the Reelz 2013 series Beverly Hills Pawn as well as a production executive at Warner Bros., died Sunday, May 3, in New York City from acute myeloid leukemia after being diagnosed last August. He was 76.
His death was announced by family.
Born Anthony Eugene Amatullo Jr. on July 14, 1949, in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, where he was raised, Amatullo earned a bachelor’s degree in Film, Cinema, and Video Studies from the City University of New York before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue his entertainment career. He learned the business from the ground up as a production assistant and then a location manager for commercials, television, and film.
Amatullo then built a long career as a line and executive producer and member of the Directors Guild of America. His credits included work as location manager on Steven Spielberg’s The Goonies (1985) and The Color Purple (both 1985). He served as associate producer on the hit musical television series Fame and the cop series Miami Vice.
As Vice President of Production at Warner Bros. from 2000 to 2005, he worked on ER, The West Wing, Third Watch and the pilot episode of Nip/Tuck, among others. Later in his career, he would go on to champion independent television and film projects, with credits including the film Two Days in the Valley and the reality series Beverly Hills Pawn, serving as executive producer on both.
His final project was 2021’s Surviving on LES, a dramatic film set amidst the gentrification of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which he produced, directed and co-wrote.
Amatullo is survived by wife Mariana Amatullo and sons Nico Amatullo and Leo Amatullo.
