Betsy Mackey była w ekipie produkcyjnej tego filmu, zmarła w 2008 roku, stąd dedykacja.
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Elizabeth Ann Mackey, “Betsy” to her friends and family, was born April 27, 1962, in Mission Hills, California, and sadly passed from our lives in a tragic accident on February 17, 2008, while working on location for a feature film “Barbarian Princess” in Honolulu Hawaii. Betsy is survived by her father, Richard Mackey, of Billerica, Massachusetts; her mother Marguerite Mackey of Concordia, Kansas; brothers Dennis Mackey of Tucson, Arizona and Steve Mackey of Merced, California; and three sisters: Ellen Mackey of Sun Valley, California; Mary Beth MacLean of Salina, Kansas; and Theresa James of Concordia, Kansas. When Betsy was 2 months old her family relocated to Tewksbury, Massachusetts where they lived until she was 12. At which time the family moved back to California where Betsy resided for the remainder of her life. After graduating high school Betsy attended Los Angeles Valley College and received an Associates Degree in Accounting. After graduation she worked as an accountant at a real estate firm in the San Fernando Valley where she met her dearest friend, Gayle Slade. She soon branched out into working in the feature film business after meeting producer, Richard Brandes, and enjoyed a very rewarding and successful career. Richard shared the following thoughts about Betsy and her life at her memorial service on Saturday, February 23, 2008, at Mary Immaculate Church in Pacoima, California: “Seeing everyone who’s gathered here today to remember and honor Betsy is a testament in itself to who she was as a person, a sister, daughter, aunt, niece, friend, and co worker. I don’t know how many of you have had the opportunity to take a look at the website created in her memory, but last I checked it had almost 1600 visits and counting and it’s only been up for less than a week. None of which is surprising of course because Betsy certainly touched a lot of people during her life. Because of that it’s a huge responsibility to stand up here and try to say the things that need to be said about Betsy. I know we all have our own wonderful memories of her and what she meant to us individually. So many that if we took the time to all share those memories here today we’d probably still be here this time next year. But I guess the church couldn’t fit that into the schedule so here I am trying to do justice to Betsy by sharing some personal thoughts and memories about her that I feel we can all relate to in some way. I’ve known Betsy for almost 20 years and still it’s not easy putting her into words, but that’s only because there are so many wonderful things about her that come to mind that I want to make sure I don’t leave anything out in the short time I have to do it here today. So I just hope you and she will forgive me if I miss anything. Betsy was a force of nature. I know I speak for everyone here when I say she’s by far one of the absolute best people I’ve ever had the good fortune to cross paths with in this lifetime. She possessed an irresistible classic girl next door beauty with those unbelievable piercing blue eyes that you always felt could see right through to your very soul. When you think of Betsy you can’t help but think of her with a great big smile on her face. It seemed like she was just always there with a smile when you needed it. A smile that was infectious and could light up any room or warm the coldest heart. And when that smile erupted into laughter, look out! Betsy had a great sense of humor, a quick wit, and always laughed at my jokes, no matter how stupid or silly they were. Her laugh was contagious. Always the proverbial free spirit Betsy possessed an open mind and loving heart and an unbelievably generous spirit. She was sunshine and champagne, a bright and shining star, larger than life, fun loving, kind and giving, and a true friend who had an amazing way of making everyone around her happy, who made the world a better place, and who had an uncanny knack for bringing out the best in everyone she touched. With a take no prisoners approach to having fun she was a true people person who relished any opportunity to get together with friends and never hesitated to make new ones. If you were fortunate enough to have Betsy as your friend she was your best confidant, your always willing co conspirator, and your biggest cheerleader. She loved the outdoors. Her favorite place to be was the beach and especially Hawaii. She loved new adventures, traveling to exotic places, had a voracious appetite for knowledge and experiencing all that life had to offer, and she approached everything with a gusto that was sometimes just plain hard to keep up with. Not the least bit materialistic, simple things gave her such joy – her favorite Monkees song, twinkly white lights, Anita’s fried chicken, and even my special “trailer trash” tuna pasta salad. A dish she would make for special occasions, and every time she’d have to call me for the recipe because she never wrote it down. She also loved to stay home with a good book or one of her favorite movies, especially “An Affair To Remember”, her all time favorite. Not surprising since she was such an incurable romantic. Sunflowers always brought out that wonderful smile. Never known to be much of a “neat freak” or necessarily very organized in her personal life, in her chosen career Betsy was always the consummate pro. Nobody was better at the job than Betsy. The film business was made for her and she was made for it. It helped her indulge her need for adventure and afforded her the opportunity to meet kindred spirits. She had an amazing head for numbers, but at the same time a keen creative insight that made her an invaluable asset on any film set. Her loyalty was unsurpassed. If Betsy was on a show with me I always knew she had my back and would do whatever it took to make whatever was needed happen. Unlike others in the business who many times just seem to be “phoning it in”, you always knew Betsy was there for the good of the project and was always a team player. A born leader, she loved the crews she worked with and because she was such a special person she could always bring together the most amazing people who, no matter what the budget, would be there just for the opportunity to work with her and be there for her. The crew in Hawaii, who had only known her for a brief few weeks, were unanimous in their overwhelming praise for Betsy as being not only the best Line Producer they’d ever worked with, but one of the best people they’d ever had the good fortune to meet. Honest to a fault, and ever the eternal optimist, the glass was always half full with Betsy, but she was never afraid to speak her mind and let you know what she felt or thought on any subject at any given time. One of the things I especially liked about her was that she did not suffer fools lightly. A trait that could at times unfortunately cause her a lot of grief in her line of work. Not that there are that many fools in the film business of course! But, if you were one of those “fools” on the receiving end of Betsy’s displeasure, God help you! Passionate in her beliefs and convictions, Betsy cared deeply about politics, the environment, and especially animals. Charitable and giving to the causes she believed in she had a huge soft spot for animals. She was always picking up strays. It was your lucky day if you were a lost dog or cat and Betsy happened along. Like winning the lottery! I remember one time we were making a turn in a busy intersection and there was a seagull with a broken wing in the middle of the road. Naturally there was no way Betsy was going to just drive by like everyone else was doing, so of course we had to stop, and risking life and limb she dodged the busy traffic, rescued the seagull and took it to a nearby animal hospital where she told the doctor to save the poor creature no matter what the cost. I’m sure most of you know her cat CC. CC was a tiny little wild kitten, barely a few weeks old, when she was found on the set of one of our films, and whereas most of us saw a poor little kitten with mange and fleas that didn’t look long for this earth, Betsy saw a beautiful little creature with a determined spirit who she promptly took under her wing and nursed back to health. CC remained a loving pal to Betsy to this day. I’m sure we all witnessed such kindness and generous actions from Betsy and we could fill a book just listing them. I bring these examples up here today because they are but a few of the sort of actions that speak volumes about who Betsy was and also speak to the reasons as to why we all love her so much and are so heartbroken by our loss. When someone like Betsy leaves us so sudden like this in such a tragic and unexpected circumstance and at such a young age it’s impossible to make any sense out of it. I’ve been trying all week and no matter how hard I try I know I’ll be trying for the rest of my life because there really is no way to make any sense of it. All I keep thinking is how could this possibly be true? She was supposed to be someone I was going to grow old with and we all know she had so much more to accomplish with her life. It just seems very unfair on so many levels, not only for her, but for all of us and for all of the people who will never have the opportunity to know her as we did. As much as I try to wrap my head around it all I can come up with is that when something like this does happen to someone so special and in such a sudden and tragic way it teaches you that every day truly is a gift. Of course Betsy already knew that and she lived her life that way. In the moment. Always with an approach to things that seemed to say don’t take any day for granted. Experience all you can and never look back. If then in her passing she has helped those of us she left behind appreciate that fact even more, and it helps us to strive to live our lives the same way - appreciating every day as a gift - then at least Betsy has left us with something lasting and meaningful, something that will help us all get more out of our own lives. Not surprising of course when you consider who she was and how much she loved all of us. God bless you Betsy for a life well lived, for the love and time you shared with all of us, and for just being the incredible, special person you were and will always be remembered as. You’ll forever be in our hearts and thoughts. I’ll never ever forget you.