Remembering Paul Grinder

Grinder: facts and figures. I did a quick count off his CV and came up with 30 features and 350+ episodes of TV and that’s a HUGE presence to have in our industry – location manager, 3rd AD, 2nd AD, 1st AD, 2nd unit director, main unit director, associate producer, co-producer = AMAZING!

He and I first worked together in 1995 on ‘Hercules -The Legendary Journeys’ and as part of Pacific Renaissance Pictures and this continued through ‘Xena-Warrior Princess’, ‘Boogeyman’, ’30 Days Of Night’ and ‘Spartacus’, which ended principal in 2012. The Grinder contribution to the Pacific Renaissance legacy is enormous, acknowledged and never forgotten.

As for his tangential contribution to my own roles – I always appreciated his conversational openers such as “I am about to state something egg-suckingly obvious” or “out of whack” or “above my pay grade” and then there was some strange looping metaphor about a turnip, a pig, a bowl of soup and a feature script that came in at 311 scenes …….

The joy of Grinder was that the egg-suckingly obvious problem was always followed by a clear fixup and, while often left of field, he was never wrong.

He thrived on being a problem solver – whether it was shuffling a schedule or stirring up the crowd in the Gladiatorial Arena with his cane – the head for cheers, the tail for boos.

He loved being a part of our industry.

But - Grinder was also Paul who is a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend and his service reminded that we all exist in several families and that, at the end of the day, we are about being loved.

Chloe Smith

I first met Paul on the last season of Spartacus, but got to know him when he invited me to work on a pirate show in Cape Town. We became close friends during that 4 year stint and he became incredibly close with my family. He was considered the favourite uncle who spoiled my boys with birthday gifts, and embarrassed me with mother’s day presents for my wife.

To most of us Paul was considered the film maker with the crazy but brilliant ideas.

He challenged us as film makers. There was always a new or better way, sometimes a more complicated and bloody stupid way, but more often than not, a way that was far more interesting. He taught us to think “how could this be better”. Just because we’d been doing it a certain way for years didn’t mean it was the right way. No, he invited us to look outside the box. This attitude certainly brushed off on me and many others, and made us better at what we do.

Paul was generous with his knowledge. He was always thinking of a way to keep training his AD team. In Cape Town when he set up the AD department he was adamant the juniors didn’t settle into one job. He wanted the AD’s to be always upskilling and encouraged those he trained to go outside their comfort zone and explore their abilities. It was a selfless act to make other people better at their jobs. The AD’s that trained under Paul Grinder will be some of the best out there.

Paul was a man of many interests. In Cape Town, not a weekend went by where Paul wasn’t off to a music store. But not in a mall, where there was an abundance of security. No, No, No. Paul found music stores in all the dodgy areas. One day I went with him to one of his favourite second hand record stores in a part of town where westerners weren’t overly welcomed. This didn’t bother him one bit. Up the busy streets and through market stalls he strode, bobbing away at 6’3” with his blazing white hair; head and shoulders above everyone. Heads were turning with every step. His confidence was his security in this part of town. When we got to the record store he was welcomed like a long lost friend. He had a way of connecting with people from all walks of life. An understanding that was met with respect.

Paul had a huge amount of hobbies that would take him on crazy adventures. Hobbies from art, photography, travel, food, to music. And of course film. Most weekends he’d be off to a festival, or attending a carnival, or rifling through stacks of records in music stores only the brave would consider. He travelled to places most people have never even heard of.

Again Paul wasn’t looking for the norm with his hobbies, he was looking for a stimulation most of us didn’t know existed.

If you ever met Paul it was always very interesting, but if you got to know this quirky man your world was opened up just a little more.

Rest in peace Paul. You will be remembered as a pioneer in the NZ film industry, a thought provoker, an adventure for the arts, and an awesome buddy.

**Edd Bennetto **

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Paul Grinder was my classmate for five years from 1975, when we both attended St Pauls Collegiate School as boarders.

Paul and I shared a love of theatre and the arts. We were together in the school debating team and we participated in all the school productions of plays, musicals and other dramatised events.

Sometimes we performed together on stage, and always we shared various duties behind the scenes, such as prop-making; costume making; and set building.

One time we produced Eugene Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros”, for which I made a two-man papier maché rhinoceros suit. I wore the head and front legs and Paul wore the body and rear legs.

After we left school Paul and I attended university and flatted together in Auckland.

Paul became a regular contributor to the Auckland university student magazine, Craccum. Paul's “press pass” secured us some free passes to many memorable Tall Dwarves and other concerts.

After completing our degrees, Paul and I both worked for a time at Theatre Corporate in Cross Street - Paul was in the acting troupe and I designed theatre sets.

At this time the 1981 Springbok rugby tour took place. Typically, Paul was amongst the first to sign up to committed organised action to halt the tour.

Paul was one of the few dozen protestors who managed to invade the pitch at Hamilton which lead to the match being cancelled. It must have been terrifying for him to break through the police lines, then have to be protected by those same police from the increasingly angry and violent tour supporters in the stadium. Paul became one of John Minto’s co-leaders at all of the remaining 15 Springbok matches that year. He was the leader of ‘Blue Squad’ one of the front-line anti-tour activists. Paul was subjected to increasingly brutal Police riot squad actions. Despite being protected by cricket pads, a motorcycle helmet and home-made body armour, Paul was often injured and at least once had to attend the emergency ward for treatment to his wounds. Paul was undaunted and attended every single match of the tour.

Alistair Kay