Lee Allan Allison's Obituary
Lee Allison (23 Feb. 1943 - 24 Jan. 2014)
LEE ALLISON was born to be a filmmaker and entrepreneur. He came to Hawaii in 1959. In high school, he worked for the Hawaii Tribune Herald. Some of his still pictures are still around, like the photos of the 1960 Tsunami that damaged Hilo and Kapoho. He graduated from Hilo High School in 1962, moved to Kona and started taking pictures of fishermen standing next to their catches. He attended Brooks Institute in California and earned a B.P.A. Degree, returned to Honolulu and started a professional photography company with a small loan from his father. He married what he called his “incredible soul mate” Veronica, the mother of their two daughters, Cheri and Lara.
The photography company became Iron Orchid Films, opened production offices at 1833 Kalakaua Avenue, and started shooting and editing high quality commercials filmed in 35 mm, a first for Honolulu. In the early ‘90s, Lee befriended two talented helicopter pilots, Ron Williams and Bob Bowker. Together, they managed to establish AirStar Helicopters and flew tours over the Grand Canyon for 10 years.
Over the years, Lee Allison shot film for the original Hawaii Five-O, Munsingwear, Adidas, First Hawaiian Bank, Magnum PI, United Airlines, Zippy’s and Territorial Savings Bank. 1979 highlighted his career. He received the CLIO AWARD for the commercial “The Immigrant” for Honolulu Federal (now American Savings). The CLIO is the advertising industry’s equivalent of the Oscar. But more brilliance was to come. Lee went on to film footage for a Stevie Wonder video in the early ‘80s. The song is called “Overjoyed”. And then, he worked on “1984” Steve Jobs’ and Ridley Scott’s famous 1984 kick-off commercial for Apple Computers. Watch the edit when the girl hurls the hammer. That’s Lee’s edit. He also represented Hawaii on the National Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers.
Visitation: 9:30-10:00a.m., Saturday (2/8) at Emmanuel Korean Baptist Church (1640 S. King St.)
Celebration of life service: 10:00a.m.
Inurnment: 2:30p.m. at Valley of The Temples Memorial Park
Burial Information: Haven of Peace 3 - 735 - B -3
What’s your fondest memory of Lee ?
What’s a lesson you learned from Lee ?
Share a story where Lee 's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Lee you’ll never forget.
How did Lee make you smile?
