Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546135
76 FA L L 2 0 2 6 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y After the project wrapped, I made good on my promise. My wife and I set out to stay with Kirk and Leslie at their new home. It was incredible and exactly as he had described. He took me all around his property showing me the varieties of palms that he had planted, as well as coffee plants, exotic tropical flowers, his chickens, and his new prized tractor/mower. He had swapped a life of sitting on set and listening to actors talk with now sitting on a tractor while wearing noise-suppression headphones. He was living his best life and had grand plans for this chapter of his life. I continued to receive career and life advice almost daily from Kirk. Then, this past year, I got word that I was nominated for an Oscar and BAFTA for my work on the film Sinners. I was so excited to share this huge milestone with my mentor. I know he was very proud to have been such a huge part in helping me grow from the utility sound technician he had hired almost a decade prior into the production sound mixer I had now become. I was thrilled at the idea that Kirk would see me at these award ceremonies. Unfortunately, I received the devastating news of his passing before this would become a reality. It was a really tough thing to grapple with the loss of someone so important to me at a time when I was celebrating a moment that he had been so integral in making into a reality. I attended the Oscars with my wife, and we had the experience of a lifetime. Kirk had prepped me for everything that we would soon encounter and he was spot-on. There were the red-carpet events and all the parties. We got dressed up and had the best time. We were at the Oscars! How crazy is that? Then came a turning point for my night. Kirk Francis appeared on the screen as the room celebrated the In Memoriam portion of the ceremony. There he was; an image of Kirk Francis wearing his Hawaiian shirt under his tuxedo jacket and holding his Oscar statue that was decorated with a small Hawaiian lei. Below it read: Kirk Francis 8/27/1947 - 2/6/2026 When trying to process the loss of someone, it is natural to try to encapsulate who that person was and why they mean so much in our lives. There is a tendency for us to tie a person to their work. Sure, Kirk was an Oscar- and BAFTA-winning production sound mixer of some very impressive films. But the thing that occurs to me most is that Kirk Francis was a cultivator. Whether it was an orchid, a song, a meal, a rain delay, a young utility sound technician, or a corner of a Hawaiian hillside, Kirk had the ability to recognize what it could become. Then he patiently invested time, encouragement, and the care necessary to help it flourish. That is the Kirk Francis I am fortunate to know, and I am forever grateful that I answered his first phone call. B A