REMEMBERING 1st Assistant Director JAMIE LESLIE

Sad to hear about the passing of 1st Assistant Director Jamie Leslie. I made the miniseries Gallipoli with Jamie as my 1st AD in 2015. Although we were different kinds of filmmakers there is no way our incredibly complex production (80 odd days of shooting a WW1 drama, mostly exterior, through extreme heat, cold and torrential rain and mud) would have gone as smoothly nor would I have been able to create the level of work I was aspiring to. 

Jamie taught me so much about the process of filmmaking and helped organise my scattered thoughts on many occasions. He put his heart and soul into making our production (and every production) to be as good as it could be.

In looking back at photos from that time it’s interesting to observe Jamie and the role of the first AD in general. They are integral to film production but rarely at the centre. As you can see Jamie liked to be just off to the side in a position where he could see all the moving parts at once, making sure the dance of the crew was in and on time. I think he was in his element here and I know he loved to watch and be part of that dance of when a crew is up and running and working harmoniously. 

I trusted and respected Jamie so much. He was incredibly patient, wise, loved a good laugh and I’ll always remember his cheeky grin when things were working, just the way he scheduled it! 

Jamie Leslie (left of both pictures) strategically placed on the set of Gallipoli.