Reportedly Working On National Geographic 3-D Feature

American cinematographer Mike deGruy and Australian television writer-producer Andrew Wight, described as underwater documentary specialists, were killed Saturday in the crash of a helicopter shortly after takeoff from an airstrip in Jasper’s Brush, near Nowra, 80 miles south of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reports the two are believed to have been working on a 3D feature-length documentary about Papua New Guinea for National Geographic with American Director James Cameron.

DeGruy was a 60-year-old resident of Santa Barbara, California, and won multiple Emmy and British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for cinematography. The 52-year-old Wight lived in Melbourne, and wrote and produced the 3D movie "Sanctum," Australian cinema's biggest box office hit of 2010.

Cameron was executive producer for that film, also directed "Avatar," which has become the biggest-grossing movie of all time, and has worked in the past on other projects for National Geographic. He says deGruy and Wight "were like family to me. They were my deep-sea brothers and both were true explorers who did extraordinary things and went places no human being has been."

Australia's ABC News reports Wight was the pilot of the Robinson R44 at the time of the accident. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate.

FMI: www.sanctummovie.com