The Hollywood Film Festival Honors Thelma Schoonmaker  by Tracy Williams, Guild Special Projects Coordinator Longstanding Guild member Thelma Schoonmaker was honored for a lifetime of work on August 8 at the fourth annual Hollywood Film Festival Awards Ceremony. 'Goodfellas' Star Ray Liotta presented her with the Outstanding Achievement in Editing award. Dressed in an elegant black evening gown, Thelma spoke graciously about how lucky she was to have met Martin Scorsese when he was young and still in film school. Instead of the usual montage of clips to introduce her, the famous fight scene from 'Raging Bull' was shown. For many in the audience, it was easily the best clip of the night and drew many gasps from the crowd, even after all this time. In addition to Scorsese, Thelma expressed heartfelt thanks to the workers who are often forgotten in what is, after all, a collaborative business – she asked the audience for a round of applause for the assistant editors, sound editors and security guards who open the gates at the end of the night. The Editors Guild shared a table with ACE at the ceremony. Board Members Diane Adler, Alan Heim, Tina Hirsch and Karen Rasch were present to watch Thelma accept the award.   Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Magazine Vol. 21, No. 4 - July/August 2000   Guild Home | Magazine Home | Top of Page   Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700