In Memoriam: John Weitz

by Jim Graebner, Sunday 07 March 2010 

It has been reported that John Weitz died in a car accident last week.  I am deeply saddened by this news.  He was a kind, engagingly humorous man.  When he did the sound mix of your movie, he did it with grace and aplomb and no small amount of wit.

John was instrumental in helping Shootout 2003 get produced.  He had come in from El Paso where he had, among other things, been a DJ.  His deep, mellifluous voice is something we’ll all remember.  That and the wry humor he brought to all his endeavors. 

During that third Shootout John maintained a Festival Blog where he reported on the daily progress of all the filmmakers.  It was gonzo journalism at its best: passionate, irreverent, and laced with laughs.  If I can find where I’ve saved it, I will try to post examples of his best pieces.

With 2003 came the beginning of the film incentives and John left the Shootout to join IATSE 480 and work on the movies that were coming into the state.  One of the early films was a Bollywood movie shot downtown where John not only mixed the sound, but acted in it as well.  I don’t know what his performance was like, but the rendition of the experience from his perspective, told in that low, plumy Texas twang of his, would have made a great comedy.

In 2004 I needed a location for a movie I wrote and John generously offered the house he was having built in the East Mountains.  Somewhere I have footage of him surveying our efforts on with sardonic amusement.  For us it was a free place to shoot with beautiful surroundings; for John it was a source of anecdotes he would ultimately regale his friends with later on.

Recently, John returned to mix for the Shootout in 2008, working on Chris Boone’s “Pre-School’s A Bitch.”  He was, as per usual, a gentleman and an inspiration to all.

John Weitz, the world is a sadder place without you.