David Keighley, 77, on Aug. 28, after a battle with neuroendocrine prostate cancer. IMAX’s first-ever Chief Quality Officer, Toronto-born Keighley oversaw post-production on more than 500 IMAX films and was a trusted partner to filmmakers, including Christopher Nolan. He entered the giant screen industry in 1972, alongside his wife and business partner Patricia, founding large-format post-production company David Keighley Productions and going on to co-direct the IMAX film “Catch the Sun.” They formed a lasting partnership with IMAX, working on every one of the company’s releases thereafter. In 1988, DKP 70MM was acquired by IMAX, and the Keighleys joined its team, helping cement IMAX’s reputation for technical excellence. In 2015, IMAX’s premiere theatre at its L.A. offices was dedicated as the “David Keighley Theater” in a ceremony led by Nolan. Just three weeks ago, Keighley finished reviewing the dailies for Nolan’s The Odyssey, the first theatrical release ever shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. Keighley was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and involved in its Science & Technology Awards Committee, in addition to membership in the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), a Life Fellow of SMPTE, and a recipient of its Herbert T. Kalmus Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Color Motion Pictures. He received the Giant Screen Theater Association’s inaugural Special Achievement in Film Award, and was later honoured alongside his wife with the organization’s Outstanding Achievement Award.
Jonathan Collicott, 52, on Aug. 27, at home in Keswick Ridge, NB. A graduate of St. Thomas University, Collicott had a three-decade career as an independent filmmaker, researching, writing, directing and editing across documentary, drama and corporate work, while also serving as Department Head of the film programs at the Centre for Arts & Technology and daVinci College in Fredericton. He joined CBC New Brunswick in 2018 as a videographer and editor, working on the local evening TV news program, and creating content for TV, web, and social media. He took on many video projects that he shot, produced and edited, including a longform feature where he trained alongside volunteer firefighters. Collicott also worked on many special live programs, including provincial election specials.
Monique Fortier, 97, on Aug. 18. Fortier’s career as an editor and filmmaker spanned more than 40 years at the NFB (National Film Board). Fortier was the first francophone woman to direct a film at the NFB, “The Hour of Independence,” in 1963. The following year, she directed “La beauté même,” starring Monique Miller, one of the first films made by a woman about women. She went on to devote herself to editing, becoming a key figure in the field in Quebec and Canada, working on NFB productions including Denys Arcand’s “The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l’empire américain),” for which she won a Genie Award for Best Editing in 1987. Fortier was the subject of a film portrait in 2014 for NFB’s Making Movie History series.
