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January/February
1999
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James Cameron Feted by American
Cinematheque
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The films of James Cameron
were screened at a retrospective hosted by the American
Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, February
3-6. "Cosmic Fury: The Spectacular Cinema of James Cameron"
included showings of The
Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day,
True Lies and Titanic. A
member of Local 700, Cameron was on hand following the
February 3 screening of The
Abyss to discuss the making of
the film.
The following companies have recently
become signatories to the I.A.T.S.E. Basic
Agreement:
Production Companies
Born to Dubb, Inc.
Boushco, Inc.
Handjive, Inc.
Features
Duke Productions, The Doris
Duke Story
Herman U.S.A. Prods., Inc., Herman U.S.A.
L & A Prods., Inc., Love and Action
MD Hotel Prods., Inc., Million Dollar Hotel
The Magnolia Project, Inc., Magnolia
TV
Pilot/Series
NBC Prods., Inc., Profiler
Once Again Prods., Inc., Once Again
The Cinema Audio Society has
scheduled its annual awards banquet for Saturday, March 6,
1999, at the Sheraton Universal hotel in Studio City, Calif.
In addition to the awards for outstanding achievement in
sound mixing for feature films, TV series and MOWs,
production sound mixer Gene S. Cantamessa, an Oscar winner
for E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,
will receive a Career
Achievement Award. Contact CAS at (818) 752-8624 for
additional information.
The Retiree's Luncheon is scheduled
for Sunday, May 16, at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City.
Invitations will be mailed in the weeks ahead, but mark your
calendars now and make your plans to be a part of this great
annual event.
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Check Your Social Security
Account
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from Martin Levinson
Since most Guild members work as
freelance employees, it is to your best interest to verify
that all of your employers have paid into your social
security account.
One easy method for checking the
status of your account is to call the Social Security
Administration at (800) 772-1213 and request form
SSA-7004-SM-OP1. It is free. Send it back and you will
receive a printout of your account and the stipend you can
expect when you retire at age 62 or 65.
from Diane Adler
Cancer is not just a physical illness
- it often brings emotional trauma and suffering. Some
patients report that the emotional fallout of cancer is even
more difficult than the physical aspects. While physicians
treat the body, The Wellness Community provides an
environment where people with cancer and their families can
be with others to find hope, build support and reduce
feelings of loneliness. Gilda Radner wrote about TWC in her
book, It's Always
Something: "I couldn't get
inside fast enough to be nourished by other cancer patients,
and to know that I was not alone."
All services at TWC are provided free
of charge and include: ongoing and drop-in support groups,
lectures, exercise, stress reduction and interactive
workshops. Every support group is facilitated by a licensed
psychotherapist specially trained in TWC methodology. After
joining a TWC support group, 87% of the participants report
that they are happier, 83% believe they have improved the
quality of their lives, and 82% gained hope. Many physicians
now believe TWC can help alter the course of cancer toward
improved health.
For more information about The
Wellness Community near you, please call (310)
314-2555.
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Introducing the Union Members
Discount Network
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Members of the Guild are invited to join
the Union Members Discount Network, a group of businesses in
Los Angeles offering substantial discounts to everyone in an
entertainment industry labor organization. These discounts
are guaranteed to be larger than those given to any other
individual or group.
The list of UMDN preferred providers
includes car dealerships, florists, dry cleaners, tanning
salons, chiropracters, roofers and much more. New services
are being added regularly.
To receive your membership card and
list of providers, simply phone the network's toll-free,
24-hour live operator service at (877) 558-6466, or access
its web
site. There is no fee to
join.
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NAB '99: The Convergence
Marketplace
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The annual National Association of
Broadcasters convention comes to Las Vegas, Nevada, April
19-22. It's the ideal opportunity to check out the latest
and greatest in editing systems, audio equipment, special
effects products, cameras and lighting. In fact, more than
1,300 manufacturers and suppliers will be on hand showing
off their wares for TV broadcasting, film, audio and video
production and post, telecommunications, satellite
communications, multimedia and the Internet.
The show gets bigger every year. In
1998 over 90,000 attendees descended on the Las Vegas
Convention Center and Sands Expo Center to see the NAB
exhibits. Make your plans to go this year and book your
hotel reservations early - but don't say you're with the
convention because attendees are charged higher room rates.
Also, registration for the show is $150 at the door;
however, most local post-production vendors have a stack of
free passes available for the asking. It's best to register
at least six weeks in advance so that you won't have to
stand in line at the door to pick up your badge.
If you can't make it to the show, look
for the latest NAB news here in the Newsletter.
"The Crew That
Works"
Have you had an experience of being on
a picture crew that:
- Was able to negotiate with
production to get the equipment, crew size and time
needed to meet your deadlines without constantly working
15-hour days?
- Had each member's responsibilities
clearly defined in an environment where most crew members
knew both film and digital?
- Worked well in partnership with
other editorial departments, such as sound, music and
visual effects?
If you or someone you know has had any
of these experiences, we want to hear from you! Our goal is
to open a forum for discussing techniques that can improve
and strengthen the post-production process.
If interested in participating, please
contact Keith Lissak at the Guild office, at
(323) 876-4770 x 237.
Motion Picture Studio Mechanics
Local 52 is celebrating its 75th anniversary at the New York
Hilton hotel on October 2, 1999. The gala evening is
scheduled to include four special video tributes, and the
local currently requires the services of an editor to
prepare the presentations (approximately 30 minutes each).
Anyone interested, please contact George De Titta at
(212) 399-0980.
This year's No Dance Film &
Multimedia Festival, a one-day alternative event held in
Park City, Utah, on January 26, screened 10 new films on DVD
- a first for an international film competition. With an
emphasis on new digital technology geared toward independent
filmmakers, No Dance - Year Two culled 183 submissions from
a a nationwide Internet search. The festival's Grand Jury
Prize for Best Feature Film went to Shucking the Curve, directed by Todd Verow.
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Guild Members Sound Off at SLO Film
Festival
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Ken Dufva, M.P.S.E., and David Fein,
M.P.S.E., wowed a packed crowd at the San Luis Obispo
International Film Festival in November with a lively
demonstration on the art of creating Foley effects. The team
brought props and film footage along, giving audience
members a chance to create their own effects. Immediately
following the demo, supervising sound editors Gordon Ecker,
M.P.S.E., and Aaron Weisblatt, M.P.S.E., discussed the
design and editing of sound for feature films.
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ASC Elects Victor Kemper as
President
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Victor J. Kemper has been elected
president of the American Society of Cinematographers. He
was previously president from 1991 to 1996. Other officers
are Steven B. Poster, first vice president; Laszlo Kovacs,
second vice president; Russell Carpenter, third vice
president; Howard Anderson Jr., treasurer; John Hora,
secretary; and Dean Cundey, sergeant-at-arms. The new ASC
Board of directors includes John Bailey, Stephen H. Burum,
Allen Daviau, Roger A. Deakins, George Spiro Dibie, Jack N.
Green, Robert Primes, John Toll and Vilmos Zsigmond.
The ASC is celebrating its 80th
anniversary this year. Fifteen cinematographers attended the
first ASC meeting on December 21, 1918. The organization now
boasts 225 active members who are cinematographers and
approximately 125 associate members.
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