Why Is Ted Demme's Widow Taking His Ashes Around Hollywood?

This story first appeared in the Feb. 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

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Ted Demme's widow, Amanda, is nearly finished with her long-gestating documentary about the director, who died of a heart attack in 2002. The film, produced by James Franco and Denis Leary, isn't some standard encomium.

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"It's done as a mock­umentary since he was such a funny f---ing guy," says Amanda, a music supervisor-turned-nightlife impresario-turned-photographer. She has taken an unorthodox approach: Demme's pals, including Harvey Weinstein and Doug Herzog, reminisce in the presence of the "sexy f---ing urn" holding her husband's ashes that she had designed by goth brand Chrome Hearts. Natalie Portman ice-skates with it. Balthazar Getty takes it into the boxing ring.

"At the end," says Amanda, "Johnny Depp loses the urn. I'm going to call it In Search of Ted Demme."