Remembering Kevin Armstrong
Kevin Armstrong was a much-loved member of the Wellington and New Zealand industries. We lost him far too soon. Sally Cunningham pays tribute to one of the nicest guys in film.
How do you sum up a person so many of us knew and loved in a few hundred words? How do you do justice to a person who brought so much fun and laughter to everything that he did? I know Kevin would have appreciated the gesture more than what was actually written, so here goes.
Kevin loved film. He loved it so much that he left a successful career as an award-winning photographer in Auckland, specialising in wedding photography, in his late 30s to pursue his dream of making film. He sold his business, uprooted from Auckland to Wellington and risked everything to start a new career from scratch, studying at The New Zealand Film and Television School in crew 4.
Kevin was a born organiser, so naturally he fell easily into two departments, working in production and as an assistant director. He was such a people person. He could talk to anyone to sort out a problem, give encouragement or advice or just be available for a wee on set gossip. If you didn’t know what you were doing you’d soon find Kevin giving you a job to do. I think for Kevin, being an AD was what he loved the best, being right in the thick of it, talking to people, organising, making people smile with a cheeky quip here and there. He was always someone you enjoyed working with.
I met Kevin in the production office on Paradise Café, a Gibson Group kids’ TV series. On this job I remember Kevin as the person with the tidiest desk (everything at right angles). I learnt that, according to Kevin, the optimum amount of brewing time for plunger coffee was five minutes, which he timed out before anyone was allowed any. I also learnt that you should always give back Kevin’s favourite pen, otherwise he’d moan about it until someone found it or sheepishly gave it back. A trait I seemed to have picked up myself. To this day that job is one of the best I’ve done, mostly because of the friends I made, Kevin being one of them.
So many of us have worked with Kevin over the years on films, TV series, commercials and various other gigs. I’m sure all of you will agree that he was one of those people that you were happy to see on the crew list because he always brought a positive attitude to the job.
In recent years Kevin’s life has been packed with activity – both ups and downs. His working life came full circle when he took the job as coordinator at The New Zealand Film and Television School, now run by Whitireia NZ. Here he was able to impart his knowledge and skills to hundreds of students, being the ear they came to for support and advice on a daily basis.
He also met the love of his life, Shailesh. I had never seen Kevin so happy. Shailesh proposed to Kevin by organising to have a message put up after the end credits of a movie they went to see on a weekend away, fitting for a man who loved film and Shailesh so much. They married in 2014.
Near the end of 2014 Kevin was diagnosed with cancer. After some gruelling months of surgeries and treatment he went into remission. Later in 2015 Kevin and Shailesh started plans to build their own house for their future together. Two weeks before Kevin passed they were finally able to move in. Inside you can see Kevin’s influence everywhere, from the minimalist stylish layout to the massive TV in the ‘entertainment’ area of the living room, because if there was one thing Kevin was a complete snob about it was the quality of one’s viewing experience.
A few days after they moved in they found out Kevin’s cancer was back and this time it was unbeatable.
I’m sure Kevin would like me to thank everyone for their messages of love and support for him and Shailesh during his final days. Although he couldn’t respond to you all he took a great deal of comfort in knowing his film family were thinking of him. In true Kevin style he was more concerned about Shailesh being looked after once he had passed than anything else that was happening to him.
We’ll miss you Kevin, on those early mornings on set before crew call, while setting up a production office in pre-production, when we’re loitering around the unit truck waiting for our coffee and shooting the breeze, when we see a beautiful film and want to discuss it with you, when we’re letting loose at wrap parties and when it’s time for a catch up and you’re not there.
Rest well my friend.
