Creative Circle mourns passing of industry legend Keith Rose

Memorial dates for Keith Norval Rose have been announced

Cape Town
When: Monday, 22 October
Time: 15h00
Where: Oranjezicht City Farm Market in Granger Bay, V&A Waterfront

Johannesburg
When: Thursday, 25 October
Time: 15h00
Where: Katy's Palace, Kramerville

Pete Khoury remembers Keith

Keith was a giant of our industry.

He pushed all of us, his team, the agency and the clients towards greatness. He did whatever it took to create spectacular work - not to just get the job done. It is something that I always admired about him. Especially in this day and age where what we do has become so commoditised. In my opinion, Keith was not just an amazing director, he was an amazing DOP, producer, art director, gaffer and even an engineer at times, if the job required it.

He once needed to put a crane on a heritage site to get the shot. And that was the shot he wanted, nothing else. The city refused permission, but this didn’t stop Keith. He got a bigger crane, the biggest crane I have ever seen and placed it on the other side of the building, off the heritage site just to get the shot.

Keith always reached for the iconic.

He was always trying to do something no-one had done before or looked at in a certain way before. His crafting was amazing to watch and he pushed us all to get there. And sometimes when you push things the way Keith did, you fail. On certain jobs, in his efforts to reach the unprecedented he failed spectacularly. But his epic achievements far outweigh his failures. He would rather fail in this way than do something ordinary. And that’s what I loved about him.

Keith also helped build our industry into what is today; not just the film industry, but the advertising industry at large. Personally, he opened my eyes to the way things should be done when I was just a junior in this industry and it forever changed the way I did things.

Maybe it's a bit unfair that because of him I expect more out of everyone else that I work with; because I have seen the best in action. And I am very grateful for this.

Thank you Keith for your role in who I am today. I am sure there are many people out there that would say the same. You challenged us. You supported us. Everything about you was epic. We are all poorer without you. I hope that in the years that come we can all hold the bar up to your standards in the work that we create.

Your legacy lives on, in all that knew you.

Pete Khoury, Creative Circle Chairman & Chief Creative Officer at TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg