Kieran Turner, a filmmaker best known for his documentary Wallflowers, passed away on Monday, Dec. 23, after a battle with cancer. He was 56.
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Christy Grosz, president of CLG3 Communications, confirmed the news to Deadline.
The outlet reported that in addition to creating Wallflower, Turner wrote and produced the online website series, which ran for two seasons from 2013 to 2014.
The series followed four friends who joined a support group to get dates. Gibson Frazier, Sarah Saltzberg, Christianna Tisdale, Susan Louise O’Connor, and Ricky Dunlop starred in the series.
Along with Wallflowers, Turner directed and produced the documentary Jobriath A.D., which followed a ‘70s glam rock musician who died from AIDS. His independent production company, Eight Track Tape Production, specialized in LGBTQ+-related projects, both fictional and non-fictional.
Turner previously worked at Cinemarket, where he helped finance and market films such as Termination Salvation, Love & Mercy, and From the Rough.
The Daily Mail reported that Turner’s screenplay, Black Dogs, was featured in the 2022 Black List. It is also now in development by Star Thrower Entertainment.
At the time of his death, Turner was working on his documentary Ghost Lights: Reclaiming Theater in the Age of AIDS. The film explored how the theater industry was impacted by the AIDS epidemic.
Loved Ones Pay Tribute to the Late Filmmaker Kieran Turner
John Matthews, who had a role in Wallflowers, took to Facebook to share a touching tribute to Turner following his death.
“Goodbye, Kieran Turner ….the man whose mind was an endless rolodex of 60s/70s/80s popculture,” Matthews wrote, per Daily Mail. “Thank you for your friendship, wit, the laughs, your creativity, and taking me along on your Jobriath A.D. / Wallflowers adventure…. the latter of which you’re STILL an a****e for tricking me into having a speaking role. May wherever you’re going be an endless landscape of pinball machines and soundtracked by glamrock/disco/new wave music.”
Among the photos featured in the post were of Turner and singer Cyndi Lauper.
“Kieran was always so grateful for any attention his brilliant film got, and in turn was hugely supportive of Mercy Gto Peters (who is in the film),” his friend Lyndsey Parker wrote on Facebook. “He championed Mercy’s book and also helped me secure and clear a photo of her and Jobriath for her book after she died. I hope Kieran, Mercy, and Jobriath are having a great time together up in rock ‘n’ roll heaven now.”