For almost a decade, Mical Caterina has produced “Fallen Brothers” videos every year to pay tribute to production professionals who passed away over the previous 12 months. The thoughtful annual tradition, done as part of the International Day of Remembrance for Fallen Road Crew (January 20), is coming to an end, however, with this final edition, commemorating the pros who left us in 2015.
Caterina explained his decision to end the series, noting, “I started these videos in 2007 when John Roden [monitor engineer for Paul McCartney, AC/DC, Annie Lennox, Michael Jackson and countless others] passed away. He was a mentor, a true friend and a true brother, and when I read his tiny little obituary in a UK column, I was appalled. John had worked for some of the world’s most talented artists and all they could give him was a single paragraph ‘blurb.’ So I decided to make a video tribute in his honor. Then I thought, why not all of our brothers (and sisters) in this Godforsaken industry? So started the Fallen Brothers videos.”
Compiling the annual tribute has been no easy task. “Every year, I collect the names from 30-plus sources; verify the spellings, the artists they worked for; make sure there are at least two documented mentions of their passing; get permissions to use videos; and make sure it gets done by the 20th of January for the International Day of Remembrance for Fallen Road Crew,” he said.
All that time and effort, however, inevitably takes its toll, as he readily admitted: “You have no idea how painful this endeavor is,” he said, particularly due the concern that someone might be accidentally omitted or have their name misspelled.
With that in mind, Caterina has announced that the 2015 edition is his last “Fallen Brothers” video; while the series will be over, the production industry remains solidly in his debt for commemorating the pros no longer with us.
