RIP Kenneth Barr

I learned today that IDIOM Pictures' owner and director Kenneth Barr has passed away. He was 37 years old, same age as me.

I first worked with Ken on REROUTE. It was my first experience in film. I was 'killed' by a shotgun blast in a west Edmonton parking lot in November. I remember Ken's direction for the last shot of the sequence: "Corpses, please stop shivering!"

I'm sure anyone who worked with Ken on his projects can tell similar stories of working on a shoestring budget for long hours and yet somehow, coming out if it with a great experience and even better stories. Ken was passionate about what he did, and that enthusiasm was contagious.

In addition to REROUTE, I worked with Ken on THE ACADEMY, a story recounted on this blog previously. Ken also directed the MPW MADNESS TV series.

Some of my best memories are me, the late RIPPER, and KEN in Ken's apartment filming the bumpers for the MPW show and overdubbing commentary. Ripper and I would do hours of ad libs. I've always been both hopeful and terrified outtakes of those sessions might show up somewhere. Hilarious and inappropriate, including an impromptu Gangsta Rap video.

It's strange for me to think of the three people in that apartment, two of them are now dead, both much too soon.

My thoughts are with Ken's friends and family at this difficult time.