If Sonny Miller were your friend, he would make you feel like you were his best friend. He had that way about him, that humble, kind, honest, and generous way of living. His life was full-on positive and full-on fun. Everyone loved Sonny.
He was a legendary man: a great photographer, cinematographer, filmmaker, and all-around great guy. He tragically passed away from a heart attack on July 8, 2014. It was 10 days before his 54th birthday.
All of us were shocked by the sudden grief. Our good friend, whom we never imagined would not be here to talk with, laugh with, or travel around the world with, was gone.
Sonny’s father, Bud Miller, and his uncle, Bill Gilliland, asked us to help protect and oversee Sonny’s archive of creative work. There was so much stuff to deal with. It took weeks of long days loading up and hauling all the material to a secure location. The sheer weight of the film reels, videotapes, and photos was physically demanding- Miller had been shooting for decades nonstop. We didn’t know it at the time, but moving Sonny’s archive into a climate-controlled storage was the beginning of the Nalu Vault. Storing, digitizing, and organizing the footage has been a time-consuming and costly endeavor, but it is a mission that must be completed.
Almost 12 years later, the Nalu Vault has moved to the care of the newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit Nalu Film Foundation, and Sonny Miller will always be our inspiration and honorary ambassador.
As a renowned professional creative artist, Sonny was passionate about getting the best possible shot and was wise enough to maintain his archive carefully. As the Nalu Film Foundation grows through collections from other great cinematographers and photographers, we bring Sonny’s passion, wisdom, and professionalism to every piece of archive under our care. Rest assured, we are on task to ensure that these archives are available for our generation and the generations to follow.