President Michael D Higgins was among the mourners at the funeral of TV and film producer James Flynn, who died after a short illness.
Mr Flynn with his wife Juanita Wilson have been responsible for producing more than 80 films between them and have played a huge role in the current success of the Irish film industry.
Mr Flynn was a co-producer on the film The Banshees of Inisherin which has been nominated for nine Oscars.
Mount Jerome’s Victorian Chapel was filled to overflowing for the funeral service of Mr Flynn (57) who died having been diagnosed with cancer in late December.
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Many speaker spoke of Mr Flynn’s generosity towards others, his sense of humour, work rate and encyclopaedic knowledge of film and sport trivia.
Ms Wilson, who set up the company Metropolitan Films with her husband in 1997, said knowing him had been a “privilege” and her life with him had been an “adventure”. She thanked those who had sustained their family through the days since her husband died.
Mr Flynn’s daughter Anna said the word “no” was not in her father’s vocabulary and he supported all her endeavours. “He always showed up. He came to every match, every concert. He supported me in any path that I was taking”.
His son Alex said his father was a “doer, a giver and a fixer” who was “incredibly complicated yet remarkably simple”.
[ James Flynn, coproducer of The Banshees of Inisherin, dies aged 57Opens in new window ]
He could be unfazed by a collapsing international film production, yet completely unravelled by a minor traffic jam or a misplaced pen, his son recalled.
“When he was diagnosed with his illness, he thought it was something that he could stick his head down and solve just like everything else in his life with zeal and positivity. He fought like hell until the very end,” Alex Flynn told the congregation.
Tributes were also paid to Mr Flynn by his friends within the film industry. Ed Guiney of Element Pictures said he had looked on in “admiration and awe” at the impact Mr Flynn had on the Irish film business and as an “incredibly committed industry advocate”.
“As a producer he helped to create some of the most impressive work to come out of this country in the last few decades including H3, Secret of Kells, Love/Hate, The Borgias, Ondine and Greta.”
Mr Flynn had also developed one of the most success drama companies in Europe with his friend Morgan O’Sullivan – Octagon Films. “They were world-beaters in this field employing thousands of people,” he said.
Element Pictures co-founder Andrew Lowe said he had met Mr Flynn for lunch shortly before he was diagnosed and he was in good form. “He lived life large right until the end,” he said.
“He was kind and generous and supportive. Looking back, I was overawed by his confidence. We became firm friends over the years. He had an incredibly capacity for work. He was so bright and focused and he seemed to cover so much ground effortlessly.”
He was generous with his time and wanted to help others succeeded in the film industry, he said. Among the texts Mr Flynn had sent him was one in 2019 after Rutger Hauer, the actor who starred in Blade Runner, died. It was from the final scene in Blade Runner.
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like… tears in rain. Time to die.”
Among those who attended the funeral were the film directors Jim Sheridan, Lenny Abrahamson and Thom Moore of Cartoon Saloon.
