Kirk Findlay
| Kirk Findlay | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vancouver, Washington, U.S. |
| 🏡 Residence | Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Washington State University |
| 💼 Occupation |
|
| 📆 Years active | 1991–present |
| Notable work | "The Jack Matlack Story" (1991) Farewell Portland Beavers (1993) Ice Hockey in the Rose City (1996) Pioneers of the Pacific (in production) |
Kirk Findlay is an American documentary filmmaker and former television news anchor based in Palm Springs, California. He is known for a series of documentaries on Pacific Northwest sports history, including Farewell Portland Beavers (1993) and Ice Hockey in the Rose City (1996), and is the writer, director, producer and narrator of Pioneers of the Pacific, a documentary on the history of baseball in Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Coast League.
Early life and education
Findlay is a native of Vancouver, Washington, and a graduate of Columbia River High School, where he played baseball.[1][2] He holds a bachelor's degree in broadcasting, with a minor in film and sociology, from Washington State University.[3]
Career
Broadcasting
Findlay began his career as a sports intern at KATU, the ABC affiliate in Portland, Oregon.[3] From 1991 to 1995 he worked at the CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland, including as host of the newsmagazine program East Metro Edition and the lifestyle program Around Town.[4] He subsequently worked in television news, weather and features at stations in Arizona, California and Texas, and was a host for Time Warner Entertainment in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2011.[4][3]
Documentary filmmaking
While at KOIN-TV, Findlay produced his first documentary, The Jack Matlack Story (1991), a 28-minute profile of world famous Portland promoter and showman Jack Matlack featuring interviews from Homer Groening, Mark Hatfield, Alex Trebek, and Dan and Duke Wieden. Matlack was considered [5] The film was a documentary finalist for the Robert M. Bennett Awards at the American Film Institute's 11th National Video Festival, held in Hollywood, California, in November 1991.[5]
In 1993, Findlay wrote and directed Farewell Portland Beavers (also referred to in press coverage as Going, Going, Gone: Farewell Portland Beavers), a documentary on the history of the Portland Beavers, the city's Triple-A minor league baseball franchise, from its founding in 1903 through the team's departure from Portland that year.[6][7] The film aired on KOIN-TV[7][1] and was later included in Hits, Runs and an Era, a traveling exhibition on Pacific Coast League history organized by the Museum of San Diego History.[7] Sports Collectors Digest gave the home-video release a positive review.[8]
Findlay produced a short documentary, Winter Hawks (1995), on the history of the Portland Winter Hawks.[9] His next film, Ice Hockey in the Rose City (1996) — also released as Rose City Hockey — traced the broader history of professional ice hockey in Portland from 1914 to the modern era, focusing on the Portland Buckaroos of the Western Hockey League.[9] Reviewing the film in The Oregonian, staff writer Roger Anthony called it "a must-have video for local fans" and wrote that it was more impressive than the Colorado Avalanche's Stanley Cup championship that year, while also flagging a couple of factual errors regarding the Buckaroos' historical win–loss record.[9]
Findlay is the writer and producer of Pioneers of the Pacific, a documentary on the colorful history of baseball in Portland and the Pacific Coast League dating back to 1866.[10][11] Findlay has said he spent about five years developing the film.[1] It features interviews with former major league players including Tommy John and Lou Piniella,[10] A director’s cut of the film had a preview screening for the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research on February 10, 2024.[1] sportswriter Kerry Eggers wrote that he enjoyed the film and that there is plenty of good stuff that the area's baseball fans would enjoy, mentioning Findlay knows it needs trimming from its nearly two-hour runtime which he will save for a director's cut.[1] [11] As of early 2024, Findlay was seeking a distributor and additional financial support to complete the film.[1]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | The Jack Matlack Story | Producer | 28 minutes; AFI Bennett Awards documentary finalist |
| 1993 | Farewell Portland Beavers | Writer, Director | a.k.a. Going, Going, Gone: Farewell Portland Beavers |
| 1995 | Winter Hawks (short) | Writer, director | History of the Portland Winter Hawks |
| 1996 | Ice Hockey in the Rose City | Writer, director | A.k.a. Rose City Hockey |
| TBA | Pioneers of the Pacific | Writer, director, producer, narrator | In production |
Personal life
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Eggers, Kerry (February 13, 2024). "Baseball Documentary Makes Portland Debut". kerryeggers.com.
- ↑ "Photograph caption, "Tiger Mike McElvery is safe at second as Kirk Findlay of River awaits late throw"". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. May 9, 1979. p. 30.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Who We Are". Findlay Films.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Findlay, Kirk. Professional résumé (personal collection; provided by the subject). Not publicly published — see note at top of this draft.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "11th American Film Institute National Video Festival program". American Film Institute. November 1991. Bennett Awards: Finalists, Documentaries section. Missing or empty
|url=(help) - ↑ "Farewell Portland Beavers (1993)". IMDb.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcolumbian1994 - ↑ Jaynes, Dwight (November 29, 1995). "Portland's hockey history has been on ice until now". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Anthony, Roger (June 14, 1996). "Documentary a blue-line special on Portland's kings of hockey". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Pioneers of the Pacific". IMDb.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Zalusky, Steve (January 28, 2024). "Baseball Way Back: About Seals, Beavers and Stars in baseball". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Cite error: <ref> tag defined in <references> has no name attribute.
<ref> tag with name "columbian1995" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.External links
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