Two world-renowned filmmakers were killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Australia Saturday while working for famed director James Cameron and National Geographic on a documentary film.
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/02/05/celebrated-filmmakers-killed-in-australian-helicopter-crash/
American cinematographer Mike deGruy, a biologist and conservationist, and Australian TV writer-producer Andrew Wight, who was also a pilot and underwater cave diver, died in the accident, National Geographic said Sunday. They were going out to shoot film for Cameron’s documentary when they crashed.
National Geographic and Cameron released a statement on their deaths:
“The deep-sea community lost two of its finest yesterday when a helicopter carrying Andrew Wight and Mike deGruy crashed shortly after takeoff. Wight was the owner and pilot of the Robinson R-44 helicopter. Both men were world-renowned documentary filmmakers specializing in ocean exploration and conservation.”
Wight was piloting the Robinson R-44 helicopter as it took off from an airstrip in Jasper’s Brush, near Nowra, 80 miles south of Sydney, New South Wales police said in a statement. The chopper crashed shortly after its takeoff, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/american-and-australian-filmmakers-die-in-helicopter-crash-during-shoot-in-eastern-australia/2012/02/05/gIQAlCoErQ_story.html
Wight, 52, was the documentary-producing partner of explorer-filmmaker Cameron, according to a story posted on Nat Geo’s website. It also said that after leading six deep ocean expeditions together, from which the films “Ghosts of the Abyss,” “Aliens of the Deep,” “Expedition: Bismarck” and “Last Mysteries of Titanic” were made, the two recently co-produced Wight’s first feature film, “Sanctum 3D.”
DeGruy, 60, spent 30 years producing and directing documentary films about the ocean. An accomplished diver and sub pilot who spent many hours filming deep beneath the sea, he was the director of undersea photography for Cameron’s “Last Mysteries of the Titanic,” according to Nat Geo’s story.
“Mike and Andrew were like family to me,” Cameron said in a statement. “They were my deep-sea brothers, and both were true explorers who did extraordinary things and went places no human being has been. They died doing exactly what they loved most, heading out to sea on a new and personally challenging expedition, having fun in the way they defined it for themselves, which was hardship and toil to achieve something never done before. They were passionate storytellers who lived by the explorer’s code of humor, empathy, optimism, and courage. Their deaths are a tremendous loss for the world of underwater exploration, conservation, and filmmaking.”
Cameron continued, “Andrew was kind and loyal, full of life and a sense of fun, and above all, a careful planner who stressed safety to everyone on his team every single day. It is cruelly ironic that he died flying a helicopter, which was second nature to him, like driving a car would be to most people.”
DeGruy, he said, was “one of the ocean’s warriors. A man who spoke for the wonders of the sea as a biologist, filmmaker, and submersible pilot, and who spoke against those who would destroy the sea’s web of life. He was a warm, funny, extremely capable man and one of the world’s top underwater cinematographers. His passion for exploration and for the wonders beneath the sea was boundless.”
National Geographic Society president Tim Kelly also issued a statement.
“We are grieving over the loss of these two extraordinary friends,” he said. “Andrew and Mike were part of our extended family at National Geographic, and our hearts, prayers, and thoughts go out to their loved ones. They accomplished so much, but were taken too early, and our world is greatly diminished by their leaving it.”
An Australian Adventurer of the Year medal winner and Emmy nominee, Wight produced more than 45 films since 1989, including TV documentaries, live television specials, and 3D Imax films. He was a respected SCUBA and cave diving instructor, commercial helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, and cattle farmer. Wight was recently announced as the general manager of the Australian office of CAMERON | PACE Group, where he was responsible for providing 3D cameras and production technology to Australian films and television.
DeGruy was an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and television host specializing in natural history and underwater programming. His work as cinematographer, producer and host for such projects as “Life in the Freezer,” “Trials of Life,” “Blue Planet” and “Last Mysteries of the Titanic” won multiple awards. DeGruy founded the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based production company The Film Crew Inc. in 1979.
DeGruy is survived by his wife, Mimi, his son, Max, and his daughter, Frances. Wight is survived by his wife, Monica, and his son, Ted.
