Sean Hepburn Ferrer

Sean Hepburn Ferrer is a Swiss film producer and author. He is the son of Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer.

Sean Hepburn Ferrer
NationalityUnited States
Swiss
OccupationFilm producer
Author
Spouse(s)including Leila Flannigan
(?-2000)
Children3 including Emma Ferrer
Parent(s)Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer

Early Life

Sean Hepburn Ferrer is the son of Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer.[1] He has a half-brother, Luca Dotti, from Hepburn's second marriage, to Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti.[1]

Career

Film work

He initially worked in the film industry and worked on the design, production and marketing of films. He has been involved as an assistant director in making such films as Inchon, Tote kriegen keine Post (One Shoe Makes It Murder) and Strangers Kiss. In 2001, he filmed the documentary Racehoss about Albert Race Sample, who, as a convicted criminal in the prison, turned to writing and later helped other inmates to return to normal living. Ferrer directed the film and also took over the production. In 2003 he published a biography of his mother, Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit: A Son Remembers.

Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund

His mother's death in 1993 led him the following year to found the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund (originally named Hollywood for Children Inc.),[2] a charity funded by exhibitions of Audrey Hepburn memorabilia. He directed the charity in cooperation with his half-brother Luca Dotti, and Robert Wolders, his mother's last significant other, which thereafter continued the humanitarian work of Audrey Hepburn.[3] Ferrer brought the exhibition "Timeless Audrey" on a world tour to raise money for the foundation.[4] He served as Chairman of the Foundation before resigning in 2012, at which point Dotti became Chairman.[5] In 2017, Ferrer was sued by the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund for alleged self-serving conduct.[5] In October 2017, Ferrer responded by suing the Fund for trademark infringement, claiming that the Fund no longer had the right to use Hepburn's name or likeness.[2] Ferrer's suit against the Fund was dismissed in March 2018 due to the complaint's failure to include Dotti as a defendant.[6] In 2019, Ferrer prevailed in the Fund's suit against him, with the judge ruling there was no merit to the charity's claims it had the independent right to use Audrey Hepburn's name and likeness, or to enter into contracts with third parties without Ferrer's consent.[7][8]

Other charity work

From 2014 to 2018, Ferrer was ambassador of the annual Rare Disease Days.[9]

Personal Life

Ferrer has been married multiple times. His marriage to Leila Flannigan[10] produced a daughter, Emma Ferrer. The couple divorced in 2000, when Emma was 6 years old. Ferrer also has two younger children.[1]

Filmography (selected)
  • 1981: Inchon (Assistant Director)
  • 1982: One Shoe Makes It Murder (Second Assistant Director)
  • 1983: Strangers Kiss (Associate Producer, First Assistant Director)
  • 1984: Growing Pains (Second Assistant Director)
  • 1986: Good to Go (Producer)
  • 1987: Treasure of the Moon Goddess (Assistant Director)
  • 1987: Ironweed (Associate Producer)
  • 1991: Eye of the Widow (Executive Producer, First Assistant Director)
  • 1991: Pretty Hattie's Baby (Producer)
  • 1993: Blood In Blood Out (Bound by Honor, First Assistant Director)
  • 2001: Racehoss (Producer, Regie)
  • 2010: Living the Blues (Short, Executive Producer)
  • 2011: Cloudstreet (3-episode miniseries, Executive Producer)

Publications
  • Hepburn Ferrer, Sean (2003). Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit (1st Atria books hardcover ed.). New York: Atria Books. ISBN 0671024787.
  • Hepburn Ferrer, Sean & Karin (2020). Little Audrey's Daydream. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 9781616899912.

References
  1. Fiori, Pamela (2014-08-12). "Emma Ferrer Reflects on Audrey Hepburn". Harper's Bazaar. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2020. [Audrey Hepburn] put aside her career at its peak to raise her two sons, Sean Ferrer, whose father was Audrey's first husband, the actor Mel Ferrer, and Luca Dotti, from her second marriage (to the Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti). ... [Audrey Hepburn died] in January 1993.... Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer, Audrey's first grandchild, was born in Switzerland in May of the following year to Sean and his then wife, Leila. Now 20, Emma is the eldest of Sean's three children.
  2. Stempel, Jonathan (2017-10-05). "Audrey Hepburn's son sues children's charity over use of mother's name". UK. Reuters. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  3. "Note from Sean Ferrer". Audrey Hepburn official website. n.d. Archived from the original on February 12, 2016.
  4. "Audrey Hepburn Arrives in Berlin" (Press release). Ileana International. March 9, 2009. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020 – via Business Wire.
  5. Bryant, Kenzie (February 10, 2017). "Audrey Hepburn's Oldest Son in Legal Wrangle with Her Children's Fund". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020.
  6. Sean Hepburn Ferrer v. Hollywood For Children, Inc., Court Listener. Free Law Project (District Court, Central District of California 2017-2018). Archived from the original on July 28, 2020.
  7. "Proposed Decision Favors Actress' Eldest Son in Dispute with Charity". Los Angeles, California: KNBC. 19 October 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  8. "Audrey Hepburn's Son Sean Hepburn Ferrer Vindicated By Court Decision" (Press release). Sean Hepburn Ferrer. December 3, 2019. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020 – via PR Newswire.
  9. "Rare Disease Day 2018 Ambassador". Eurodis: Rare Diseases Europe. February 6, 2018. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Sean Hepburn Ferrer ... is Rare Disease Day 2018 Ambassador. [He] was the previous Rare Disease Day Ambassador for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
  10. Fleming, Kirsten (19 March 2018). "Audrey Hepburn's granddaughter is the anti-Kardashian". New York Post. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020. Her mother, Leila Flannigan, is divorced from [Sean] Ferrer.
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