Blow director Ted Demme dies at 38

The director of the film Blow is dead after collapsing while playing basketball.

Ted Demme was taking part in a celebrity basketball game in Santa Monica when he collapsed on Sunday.

He was taken into hospital in full cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead 20 minutes later. He was 38.

The cause of death has not been determined and an autopsy will be conducted, says Lieutenant Cheryl MacWillie of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

Demme, a nephew of director Jonathan Demme, directed Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in last year's Blow.

The film was based on the true story of George Jung, who was the American connection to the Colombian cocaine cartel in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Demme, who lived in West Hollywood, also directed the 1996 film Beautiful Girls and was a director on the 1999 television series Action.

His uncle, Jonathan Demme, directed the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, which won the Academy Award for best picture and director.

Ted Demme is survived by his wife, Amanda Scheer-Demme, a music supervisor for films such as Erin Brockovich and Blow. The couple have two children, a five-year-old daughter and a two-month-old son.

Demme had been preparing to direct a thriller titled Nautica starring Ewan McGregor and Heath Ledger.