Obituary: Rosslyn Abernethy, the Taupō woman who worked producing international films

Rosslyn Abernethy was involved with the film industry both in New Zealand and overseas. Photo / Supplied

A Taupō family is mourning the loss of Rosslyn Abernethy JP who was a pioneer of feature film production in New Zealand and Australia and worked with the most famous actors, producers and directors of her generation.

Rosslyn was born in Masterton on June 23, 1952, where her father was a bank manager. During her childhood she moved with her family from town to town in both the North and South Island. The family finally settled in Taupō in 1975 where Rosslyn owned a much-loved family home.

Rosslyn began working as a typist for an Auckland cinema franchise. It is a measure of her ability and determination that she moved from this position to becoming a production manager on several major film and TV projects. She appeared on screen just once, at the start of her career where at the beginning of Roger Hall's Middle Age Spread she is seen jogging (a lifelong passion) during the opening credits.

Her big break came during the filming of one of the very best New Zealand films, Bad Blood. She was in a production office in London where she was picked out and sent back home to provide her local knowledge during the shoot.

From there a succession of films ensued, including: BMX Bandits, (Nicole Kidman's first release), Street Fighter (with Jean-Claude Van Damme), The Delinquents (with Kylie Minogue) and scores of other projects where she worked with many leading directors such as Roger Donaldson and James Cameron.

She would often work 14-hour days during filming on locations in Australia, Indonesia and Japan (where she had to endure the Kobe earthquake). Her energy and organisational ability were widely appreciated. Her last completed project was The Second from 2018 which was directed by Mairi Cameron.

Rosslyn's kindness, humour and honesty were a joy to all who knew her and she had dozens of dear friends all over the world.

Rosslyn died on July 20. She is survived by her husband the architect Shane Denman, her son the actor Burgess Abernethy (who appeared as Prince William in the TV movie Harry and Meghan, her sister, Taupō lawyer Seonaid Abernethy, and her cousins the Taupō accountant Tony Wright and his wife Mary.