My friend and producer Lisa Parker, tragically passed away just a month and ten days before her 40th birthday. She was loved and respected by hundreds of people in the film industry, having given many of us our first break. Her laughter and generosity will not be forgotton.
lisa was my best friend from the age of 3. I miss her terribly, her thin rose lips and cheeky smile. She was devoted to her work, I WAS ABROAD WHEN SHE PASSED OVER. i AM SO PLEASED SHE FOUND HER BIRTH MOTHER AND FOUND CLOSURE. lISA WAS THE JINDEST, SWEETEST FUNNY LOVING PERSON i KNEW, i HAVE MANY MEMORIES, AND WOULD LOVE TO MEET HER OTHERS FRIENDS AND KEEP LISA'S MEMORY ALIVE. ALLISON XX
ReplyDeleteI was in movie shipping/logistics a few years back and worked with Lisa many times. One of my first big projects was The Constant Gardener and Lisa was the production coordinator. She was friendly, understanding and bubbly, no matter how tough things were. We got on so well that I was always put onto films where she was the production coordinator/manager.
DeleteShe used to come to my office in her big old Jag, which was loaded with everything she could conceivably need. She loved that car. When I got married, she sent me a bottle of champagne. She was always so kind and decent.
She seemed to work too hard to me. Long hours, a crazy workload and plenty of stress: that’s the movie business, but she was such a manic character, she always seemed to be going above and beyond.
I think I’d started work on Eastern Promises when she suddenly stopped answering emails and calls. As I recall, the line manager told us she’d had a stroke and was in hospital. We sent flowers and asked for updates. A few days later, I learnt that she’d passed away.
If you’re wondering why I’m sending you this so many years later, it’s because I was just watching a TV show starring Shirley Henderson, who I believe Lisa was friends with. Whenever I catch a movie that Lisa and I worked on, I remember her with fondness. A special lady and a terrible loss.
Lovely little Lisa. So missed. So sweet with the most beautiful eyes. ❤️ 12 years this year. I wish she was here.... x x
ReplyDeleteI still watch the film now and again. I see the dedication at the end each time, which led me here.
ReplyDelete"After 10 Years, Eastern Promises Continues to Pack a Punch"
http://www.focusfeatures.com/article/legacy_eastern-promises_10-year-anniversary
Ahh thank you all for your lovely comments and stories about Lisa. I haven't used this platform for ages, so lovely to see these comments. I can't believe so much time has passed already since her passing. After Eastern Promises, she was intending to move into producing, starting with my thriller Blackout. We were trying to get Orlando Bloom attached (who was her childhood friend back in Charing Kent), but trying to negotiate with his U.S. agent/manager, to find a suitable gap in his Hollywood paid schedule was proving difficult. She was also planning to option the rights to make Momo a beautiful children's book by Michael Ende (who wrote The Neverending Story) and had asked me to write the screenplay. I had spent years looking for a producing partner that understood me and that I trusted. Her passing was devastating to me on multiple levels. I nearly got Blackout off the ground in 2008 as a £500,000 first feature and was intent on dedicating it to her before the credits rolled. Sadly, the financing failed to materialise and the project was shelved. I'm now a father to a beautiful 9 year-old, which leaves me little time to persue my filmmaking ambitions. I think Momo would have really captured audiences hearts and I'm gutted that I won't ever get the opportunity to turn it into a fantastic family film for her.
ReplyDelete