AUCKLAND, Today: On 24 November, we lost a legend. A talent. A one-of-a-kind, force-of-nature producer. The passing of Sage has sent a ripple of shock and sorrow through the industry. He will be sorely missed – but to know him, or even to have met him once, is to have him etched into your memory forever.
Sage was never the quiet one in the room. In fact, he was usually the loudest person. And that laugh? Impossible to ignore. He was rambunctious, unorthodox, occasionally controversial, and always – always – holding court like the drama queen he proudly was.
An industry icon and brilliant negotiator, Sage was the conductor of any set he walked into. A character in every sense, he was known in equal parts kind, impulsive, smart, emotional and, yes, sometimes gloriously irrational.
But he had a heart of gold and a personality permanently set to maximum volume. Sage didn’t just walk into a space, he took it over, filled it with noise, chaos, charm, and that unmistakable presence that made him utterly unforgettable.
A champion of his craft, he was fiercely protective of the work and the people who made it. He was the master of the impossible – and even if something couldn’t be done, Sage would still find a way.
He was determined to get to the line, no matter the fire. For Sage, life and work were one and the same: full noise, all the time. He lived it, breathed it, and absolutely loved it.
For more than 18 years, he’s been a fixture of this industry – a force – shaping countless careers and touching countless lives. He was never happier than calling that’s a wrap! with a ciggie in one hand and a sauv in the other, triumphant and glowing with the chaos he’d once again wrangled into something magic.
Our thoughts are with his family and work whānau as we process this loss. Words fall short for someone who lived as loudly and unapologetically as Sage did.
As one client shared:
Haere ki te pō, haere ki te kāinga o te hunga kua mene ki te pō.
Haere ki ngā tīpuna, ki ngā maunga, ki ngā awa e tatari ana.
Haere, haere, haere.
Go to the night, go to the home of those who have passed on.
Go to the ancestors, to the mountains, to the rivers that await you.
Go, go, go.
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