Ken Durey
Ken Durey began working on special effects in the 1980s as a succession of highly ambitious movies called on his services to help create fire, rain and journeys under the earth. In the early 1990s he launched company Film Effects Co (also known as Filmfx), passing his knowledge of physical effects to new generations via TV shows Xena and Hercules.
Kenneth Walter Durey was born on 15 February 1949. His father worked in a number of jobs involving oceans and waterways, including delivering lime up the Ōkura River, north of Auckland.
Durey's earliest screen gigs involved water. He operated a tugboat for ocean-heavy adventure Savage Islands (1984), then headed to Rarotonga for The Silent One. This tale of a boy and a turtle featured extensive underwater footage, and a storm sequence for which airplane engines were used to simulate high winds.
The last half of the 80s was especially busy. Durey supervised the special effects on Geoff Murphy’s end of the world tale The Quiet Earth, then dealt with submarines, tunnels and trains on Vincent Ward classic The Navigator. He also worked on a storm sequence involving an American navy vessel for No Way Out. The front of the vessel was built on gimbals in an Auckland quarry, with dump tanks used to simulate waves.
Production designer Rob Gillies first worked with Durey around 1984. Gillies needed some precision-engineered explosions for comic book style adventure Terry and the Gunrunners, and had heard about a fisherman from up north who might be able to help. Arrangements were made to meet Durey in a lay-by north of Auckland. Gillies' image of explosives experts was of men who often dressed military style, but Durey was more low-key. "I always remember that he had fluffy sheepskin slippers on."
The pair arranged to meet again the following week in the same spot, at which point Durey revealed a cardboard box containing some tennis balls attached to lengths of nylon. During a suitable break in the traffic, Durey threw one of the balls in the air and set off the explosion. "He just had a great spread of skills for doing film work, and a wonderfully lateral approach to things."
Gillies and Durey would collaborate on many projects, including one of the beloved Toyota ads featuring writer Barry Crump. It required the Toyota to drive up a steep incline to a precarious position above a stream. Durey used a steel wire attached to a skipper (normally used in logging) to drag the vehicle up the hill. The actors were reluctant to get involved; Durey and Gillies jumped inside the vehicle for a test drive, to prove it was safe.
In the 1990s, Durey supplied some of the rain which helped supply the mood on The Piano. His contributions to genetic experimentation thriller Typhon's People — which included scenes of gleaming underground research labs — were such that he was one of three people who won a Best Design Award at the 1993 NZ Film and Television Awards.
By then, Durey was deep into two TV shows which proved important in upskilling Kiwi film crew in the various arms of special effects: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. He was listed as Mechanical Effects Supervisor on both shows, as separate from the imagery created on a computer screen. Durey described it as a "wonderful experience" to pass on some "little bits of information that I've gleaned over the years on to some of the younger ones". George Port worked on the digital effects for Hercules and Xena, which meant close communication with the physical effects team. His recollection is that "no matter how ridiculous the request, Ken would miraculously always deliver on the day with something being bigger and better than we could have hoped for."
By the time Xena ended in 2001, Durey was talking about retiring, but there were more projects to come. Xena producer Rob Tapert invited him back for TV shows Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525. Durey also worked on physical effects for a number of American movies that shot in New Zealand, including the first Narnia movie, fantasy Bridge to Terabithia and WWII era drama Emperor.
Durey headed to China for a BAFTA-nominated adaptation of novel The Kite Runner (2007) and spent time in Fiji in 2018 for one of his final screen projects — a sequel to missionary drama The Other Side of Heaven.
Ken Durey died on 28 April 2025, at the age of 76. His company Film Effects Co, now led by his son Brendon, continues to supply fire, rain and explosions for a range of screen projects.
Published on 9 May 2025
Sources include
Ken Durey, 'A Great Family', When Hearts Collide website. Loaded March 2001. Accessed 9 May 2025
Filmfx website. Accessed 9 May 2025
Rob Gillies
George Port
Unknown writer, 'RIP Ken Durey: A True Gentleman of Special Effects' ShowNews website. Published 28 April 2025. Accessed 9 May 2025
'Kenneth Durey Obituary' - The NZ Herald, 3 May 2025
'Mystery Work Boat Question' Waitemata Woodys website. Accessed 9 May 2025