Living in the Aloha State and trying to make it in the hardscrabble film and television industry isn’t for everyone, but it was paradise for Danish native Anna Fishburn.
“Anna was just always there,” said Hawaii State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson. “She was fearless and dedicated to growing Hawaii’s film industry. She understood the difficulties and challenges we all face trying to push … to the next level.”
Services for the longtime Hawaii casting director, who died June 12 in St. Francis Hospice at age 67, will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 6 at Nuuanu Memorial Park, with visitation at 9 a.m. Those planning to attend the service are asked to RSVP by Monday via annafishburn.eventbrite.com.
When she arrived in Honolulu in 1970, Fishburn had been in the United States for less than a year and just gotten married. Despite the language barrier and culture shock, “she just fell in love” with Hawaii and was determined to stay, according to daughter Tanya Fishburn. She was hired as a receptionist at the Starr Seigle McCombs advertising agency, working her way up to casting director and associate producer.
Fishburn went on to establish her own company, Anna Fishburn Casting, in 1986. For the next three decades, she worked tirelessly with Hawaii actors to get them roles in local television commercials and Hollywood productions being filmed in the islands.
“Anna was truly one of a kind,” said local filmmaker Gerard Elmore. “I first met her as an actor trying to win the part for a project. Anna remembered me each time, encouraged me to keep trying, keep going and never give up.
“Years later I ended up working with her on TV commercials. I made a career as a director, and now I had a chance to work with her. She (would tell) the crew how I was the young actor trying to get a part, and she would always say how proud she was of how far I’d come in my career,” Elmore said. “That’s who Anna was — someone who believed in the talents of local actors.”
She was also known for not pulling any punches. Those who worked with her said Fishburn could be painfully honest with her criticism.
“She was a tell-it-like-it-is Danish woman,” said local casting director Brent Anbe. “She never held back her opinion, and had so much charm that although she might’ve told you something you didn’t want to hear, you embraced her and her personality even more.”
“She was very blunt,” Tanya Fishburn said with a laugh. “I’m laughing because it’s adorable. She just had the biggest heart. She wasn’t trying to act tough.”
Over the years, Fishburn cast actors in commercials for the likes of Bank of Hawaii, Hawaiian Tel, First Hawaiian Bank, Zippy’s and Nissan Hawaii, as well as national brands such as Cheerios, Budweiser, Clorox and Coca-Cola. She was the primary casting director for 19 episodes of the hit ABC series “Lost,” and helped cast local actors as extras in major Hollywood film productions including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “The Descendants.”
Fishburn also got in front of the camera herself from time to time.
“I can still hear her smoky voice and distinctive Danish accent,” recalled Georgette Deemer, managing director of the City and County of Honolulu. “When I was at the Hawaii Film Office, I had a poster of the local independent film ‘Goodbye Paradise’ hanging above my desk. That film was one of the first local full-length feature films produced in Hawaii, and … Anna was the casting director for the film but she agreed to pose as a hooker under a streetlight in Chinatown for that poster shot. Every day I’d look up and see Anna under that street lamp.”
Fishburn overcame throat cancer in 2013, but her vocal cords were damaged, reducing her voice to a whisper and making it harder for her to work, according to her daughter. She turned to electronic forms of communication to remain productive.
“The cancer was gone, but she couldn’t talk to people like she was used to,” said Tanya Fishburn. “But she still did things when she could, and she got more involved with Kumu Kahua Theatre and the Rotary of Honolulu. The big joke was that she literally went to every single event.”
In December, Fishburn was diagnosed with lung cancer.
“She was upset, of course, but she seemed so positive,” her daughter said.
Fishburn is also survived by a brother, Frank Djurslev; a sister, Joan Bitten Djurslev Lyskajaer; and two grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Kumu Kahua Theatre; visit anna
fishburn.eventbrite.com.