Christopher King, an award-winning filmmaker who worked for Sacramento’s NBC affiliate as a creative producer, died from injuries sustained in a car crash.
The crash occurred Monday around 6:30 p.m. local time. Police were dispatched to a report of a Jeep that drove off the roadway while traveling on Interstate 5 near County Road 103.
The driver, later identified as King, died from traumatic injuries sustained in the crash, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesperson. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but drugs and alcohol are not believed to be a factor.
King worked as a senior promotions producer for KCRA (Channel 3) and sister-station KQCA (Channel 58, CW) for nearly two decades. He worked on commercial promotions and marketing initiatives related to news, local programming, the KCRA website and other station initiatives.
He started his television career in 1999 at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he worked as a puzzle writer and research coordinator for the game show “Wheel of Fortune.”
King left Los Angeles for Sacramento in October 2004, working as a promotional producer for KTXL (Channel 40, Fox) before moving to KCRA three years later.
KCRA announced King’s death on Friday.
“Chris brought a smile and a laugh and a lot of heart and friendship to every project he worked on,” KCRA news anchor Edie Lambert said. “He was a talented, creative member of our team.”
Lambert noted that King was an “Oscar-qualified, award-winning filmmaker,” with KCRA noting that his short films had been screened at over 200 festivals around the world.
“To say he was legit is not an overstatement, for sure,” KCRA anchor Gulstan Dart said. “A lot of us have been hurting here for the last few days, still dealing with the shock of his passing. He will be missed.”
KCRA and KQCA are owned by Hearst Television.
