In Memoriam - Christopher Stasheff

One year ago Sine Fine Films lost one it’s most dedicated and supportive members when Christopher Stasheff passed away.  

I would have written this a year ago but it was too difficult because Chris wasn’t just a member of SFF, he was my father and in his way he helped create this little production company. 

In the summer of 1996 I decided to make a movie.  It’s a long story about how it all happened, but the point is that it did. Chris taught television and radio broadcasting for over 20 years, yet he never tried to tell me how to do it he just waited for me to ask for help.  After the first day of filming he typed up a tape log so I could write down the takes and be all professional (I didn’t really care at the time so I only did one sheet). He didn’t give me any other hints or tips or anything, but quietly supported me whenever I needed his help.

Most of all he showed me how to edit with two VCRs, taught me how to mix in music with a small audio system we had, and helped me fix equipment when it broke. He also finally supported the first film as needed (which wasn’t much).  After I began filming the second movie (Destiny II), he knew I was hooked on making movies and wanted to help me become a better cinematographer.  He almost always watched the rushes with me (the footage from that day).  

While watching footage from one scene in particular he made an annoyed sound and said “keep moving, more to the left, a little more”.  I didn’t understand, I just said “I can’t do anything about it now.”  He explained how moving the camera more to the left would frame a better shot and I suddenly saw what he meant.  “I know you can’t change it now”, he said “but remember it for the future.” 

The next day he gave me a tutorial on how to compose different shots and I saw him as his students saw him for the first time that I could remember.  As an artist it changed my world.  I love composing cool shots (although I don’t do it as often now), and I even take better photographs of every day events because of his teaching. 

That Christmas he helped me purchase my first video camera – Horatio – telling me what to look for in a camera, helping me find the right one, and paying for half of it. Horatio is now 22 years old and I long ago stopped using him to film my movies, but he actually still works. Chris helped me choose one hell of a camera!

When we began filming in 1996 almost all of the actors were under 18 (including myself) and he appointed himself the on set guardian.  He would come to all the film shoots where another adult would not be present and sit in the background reading a book (or writing one on his laptop).  He was on hand in case anything went wrong and since we were filming in places like a church hall and a movie theater, the people in charge liked having an adult there (understandably).  

He continued in that roll until I was old enough to be the on set guardian for everyone.  I didn’t really understand or truly appreciate the importance of that role until much later, but he did and took it on without a word of complaint.  Chris supported my filming in every way and was always looking out for me and the other actors. He drove us all when we needed a driver and car. 

He also worked crew or took on a part whenever I needed someone.  Whether it was holding an umbrella over the camera while we filmed in the rain for King of Elflin’s Daughter, teaching me about B-roll and Pick up shots for Perfect Combination, or playing a priest in Destiny, and an extra in Pandora’s Box when I needed people for the background of a tavern scene, Chris was always willing to jump on set and help out.

During the filming of Mind Games he always assisted in teaching the director (my brother Edward) about filming as well and was ready to be a crew member when we needed someone to help operate fans, light flash paper, handle props, and other things. 

 Chris was such a talented actor that I wanted to see him do more in SFF productions, so I wrote a role for him in Pandora’s Box.  He was happy to oblige, since he loved to act.  Knowing how great an actor he was and how much of a ham he could be on stage, I had fun writing the part, picturing him playing the character the whole time. 

In episode 15, a ghost appears and is haunting the rebel base.  Since the base is actually a theater, I made it the ghost of a director from long ago.  Being an actor and director himself, Chris was perfect in the role. In one of the many books he wrote there is an old thespian named Horace, so I named the ghost in Pandora’s Box Horace Gandergelder as an homage to his Company of Stars series.  I even put in a reference to them in one scene. You can tell he had a lot of fun playing the character and gave the performance his all. 

I had never worked with someone who had all his lines memorized and never once got them wrong, or flub, or had any bloopers at all.  We filmed all his lines and parts in a quarter of the time it would take to film anyone else.  He was such a professional (and totally made the others look bad). 

Chris was also a professional author who had written over published over 40 novels and short stories, edited multiple anthologies, written plays and even had a PhD in Theater.  I was always very proud of my father and I even asked if I could use one of the characters he created in his books.My father created a priest character who was canonized when he martyred himself for the sake of keeping an international television broadcast of the Pope from going off the air.  

Saint Vidicon was the patron saint of television and technology and fought against the perversion of Murphy (as in Murphy's Law).  He became so popular that he even got his own book called St. Vidicon to the Rescue (my dad even let me co-wrote a chapter for it!)  When I was writing Episodes 8-10 of Pandora's Box I decided to throw in a tech monk named Brother Robert who was from the Order of Saint Vidicon. Chris actually really enjoyed the character and loved his costume. 

During my college years I moved to Southern IL and he moved to New Mexico to teach television at ENMU, so he wasn’t able to be an actor or crew on any of the productions during those years, but he still supported me however he could and eagerly watched each production when it was finished.

His final role as an actor for SFF was in Episode 10 of Eidolon when he played the overworked Urshanabi, the ferryman of the dead in Mesopotamian mythology.  In Eidolon he’s in charge of boat rentals for crossing to and from the Spirit World. He didn’t really have a costume so he just stuck some weeds behind his ears and for some reason decided to use a Jersey accent.  He added a lot of lines that were not in the script and was so hysterical he won an award for Best Actor in a Bit Part. 

Even later on when he wasn’t doing well physically he still came to all the SFF Holiday and Anniversary Parties he could attend, and was still eager to watch (and sometimes re-watch) any of the productions made over the years. There are over a hundred members of Sine Fine Films, but few have done both acting and crew and few have done more than Chris did for this company.  

More than just a member of the cast and crew, he was one of the most loyal fans of the movies, shorts, and shows.  Sine Fine Films would not have existed without him. 

So, we at SFF say a huge thank you and a fond, but sad farewell to this wonderful, amazing man.  

Thank you Christopher Stasheff, for all you did. Your memory will live on and your legacy of television (and teaching) will continue.