Mark Roberts Tributes
Tributes have been pouring in for Mark Roberts who founded Mark Roberts Film Services in 1966, this later became Mark Roberts Motion Control ltd as it is today. Mark’s Family would like to say a heartfelt thank-you for the hundreds of messages received.
Here follows a small sample of them:
“Please accept my sincere condolences on Mark Roberts’ passing. Please also send my sympathy to your colleagues at Mark Roberts Motion Control. My work would not be possible without Mark Roberts’ background in developing motion control systems, and without your work on the design of the Milo. I am very grateful to both of you, and proud to work with a Milo as it has made a lot of otherwise impossible work a reality”.
Best regards, Mario
Mario Godlewski Studio. New York
“Please give my condolences to the family. I have worked with a MRMC controlled Neilson Hordell Rostrum for many years. Mark spend some time at our facility to fix a technical problem. I have asked him if I had to book a Hotel for him. “No I will sleep next to the computer until I have fixed the problem” was his answer. And he did and made some improvements as well. This was in the seventies at NLF in Loenen in the Netherlands. Alex de Heus was one of the freelance animation camera operators at my Optical House.
I remember Marc as a very bright and friendly person. His technical achievements have changed the industry.
A last farewell to Mark he will not be forgotten”.
Stephan Danser
NoWorries Film Productions
“I am very sorry to hear of Mark’s passing and my condolences to his friends and family. While I only actually met him on very few occasions, I have been using the products of his imagination and engineering skills for over 25 years, on MC rigs, optical printers and rostrums. There is no question in my mind that without Mark, the world of visual imagery and VFX would be still in the dark ages. His products allowed the wild ideas of many people to be created without too much fuss and to a quality only imagined in the not too distant past. His legacy will live on far into the future and on into many coming generations of film makers”.
John Swinnerton.. Peerless Camera Company
“So sad to hear of Mark’s passing. I’ve fond memories of Mark and the MRFS days when I was a young rostrum cameraman at Greendow in Manchester – Mark supplied one of the first computerised systems on the aerial image rostrum. They were pioneering days – Mark would spend hours – many into the night – sorting out problems on the system. It wasn’t unusual for Mark to catch a quick “40 winks” with a stepper motor still in his hand ! “Mark, is it possible to… ” and it was. Mark stayed at our house on a number of occasions during those times and was an interesting guest and a real gentleman.
Truly a great innovator and a game changer in our industry. Our thoughts are with all the family and all at MRMC”.
Neil Wieteska.. Stalwartfilms
“This is sad news for our industry.
Mr Roberts was an innovator and changed the way things were done.
We must celebrate his life and his accomplishments, that’s the legacy he created for us.
A Truly remarkable life”.
Walter Schulz. Director. Initial States Pictures
“I bring hereby my condolences to all at Mark Roberts that grew up with Mark like me during this long period that we worked together
(I lost exact bout but close to 34 years):
In the late 70’s, when still working as a rostrum cameraman I met Mark for the first time, when starting to work with the computerized Neilson Hordell rostrum camera. During all those years that followed I have been starting to feel part of the family.
I will always remember Mark’s and Ann’s warm welcome every time I visited the factory in East Grinstead and the numerous times they guest me in their house.
Mark was an excellent engineer and a remarkable and nice person and I will always remember him with warmth in my heart.
I wish Sophie and Matthew and all the family strength with the loss of Mark”.
Alex de Heus. The Netherlands
“Sincerest condolences to Mark Roberts family. Also to the staff at MRMC. My earliest memory of Mark was when I was 16 years old and working at Cell Animation. Mark came to Cell for a meeting with Paul O’Hagan on this particular occasion, and Mark had to wait for Paul.
I went back to the waiting room to inform Mark that Paul was on his way, and rather than reading a newspaper or a magazine, Mark was sat with a massive leather-bound volume containing complex mathematical equations and data. This totally blew my mind, and made a lasting impression on this 16 year old with his professionalism and the dedication he had to strive to be the best at what he did”.
Dennis Henry
MC2 Motion Control
“Hello to Matt and all the Mark Roberts Family and co-workers,
Please accept our sincere condolences on the passing of your Father and the founder of Mark Roberts Motion Control.
I only met him once at a Cinec Show in Munich about 10 years ago and we hada very pleasant conversation.
His contributions to the world of motion control will be long remembered and live on in productions all over the world”.
Sincerely,
Joe Lewis. General Lift
“Mark was unquestionably the greatest engineer I have ever had the privilege to work with. He was also a man whose ability to observe, to think freely and to tolerate, were inspirational to me. My life has been the better for knowing Mark and I am proud to have been his friend”.
Tim Richardson.
24 May 2012
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