Steve Garfinkel, probably best known for his 14-year tenure at Eastman Kodak Company, serving as Eastern regional manager for the company’s Entertainment Imaging Division, collapsed and died on Aug. 18. His sudden passing was felt by the many in the industry whose lives he touched.
Garfinkel, who had recently begun a new chapter in his career when he joined PostWorks, New York, as director of cinematography services, was also a cinematographer and a member of IATSE Local 600, and an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
Garfinkel had a camera in his hand since childhood. He borrowed the family movie 8mm camera at the age of nine, bought an old Bolex at 13 and continued to work in film ever since. Garfinkel graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in film. He worked at NBC TV News, Showtime Network, both in postproduction and broadcast engineering, served on the TV crew of Live From Lincoln Center, and landed at Movielab in N.Y. before coming aboard Kodak, working with studio feature productions and film students.
John Johnston, whose experience includes 33 years in the Kodak Motion Picture Business Unit, holding positions in sales, marketing and management, had Garfinkel as a member of his sales team. Now executive director of the Production Equipment Rental Association (PERA) as well as of the New York Production Alliance, Johnston reflected on Garfinkel, describing him as “a teacher, a giver and a friend. He was probably the most knowledgeable person I will ever meet on film and the history of Kodak. I always said if George Eastman had any offspring, the DNA test would prove Steve was a prodigy. He was creative, smart, funny, quirky and loveable….Speaking as his friend, there is none better. Steve was known and loved by cinematographers, film students and I swear almost everyone in New York City.
“Upon moving to the city in 1997, I stopped into the Cornelia Street café one night after an event, with a swag bag in tow. The bartender asked me what I did. I said, ‘worked for Kodak.’ He asked me if I knew Steve Garfinkel. Steve had helped him on his student film at NYU. Steve dedicated his career to his customers, especially those who needed a little help. Of course as a manager watching budgets, he held perennial first place on the cost side. But I’m sure those few rolls of film have paid many, many dividends to Kodak over the years, a good investment in the future. Steve moved on from his career at Kodak last fall and reinvented himself with PostWorks New York. Doing what he knew, knowing what he did and always, always there for the customer.
“We are all shocked and saddened that Steve has left us so unexpectedly,” continued Johnston. “I took some time to think about Steve today. I laughed and cried. But I smiled when I imagined the first person he looked up upon entering heaven was George Eastman. I figured that after a serious discussion with George on the current situation at Kodak, he declared Kodachrome as the Official Film of Heaven and organized a Celestial Cinematographer Society with Connie Hall and Lazlo Kovacs.”
Garfinkel is survived by his wife Denise, his first wife Jodie and their children Ariel, Jesse and Daryl.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More