#2 in a Series The Eastern Breeze News and Information from the Eastern Region by Martin Levenstein The Eastern Region Board of Directors is working to develop educational and training opportunities for Guild members in the New York area. Our goals are to help create and support programs which address the specific needs of our members, negotiate discounted tuition rates at accredited training facilities, and subsidize as much of the tuition fees as possible. With that in mind, in May our board meeting was held at the Moviola Digital Education Center on West 45th Street. Jason Dunkel, the company's vice president of digital services, gave a tour of the facilities and fielded questions from board members, as well as assistant executive director Lorraine Seidel, business representative Norman Gay, and member Phil Weisman. Moviola Digital is an Avid-certified education facility which offers a range of courses on Media Composer and Film Composer, including a class for assistant editors. Other systems are also taught, as well as traditional film editing. Moviola Digital in Hollywood has a long-standing relationship with the Guild, and Jason pledged to work with the Eastern Region office to develop a course program similar to that offered to our West Coast members. At the time of this writing, our July Board of Directors meeting was scheduled to be held at Future Media Concepts, Inc., another Avid-certified training facility, located on East 47th Street. The national Board recently approved the continued use of the Help Fund for Eastern Region members. One purpose of this fund is to subsidize union-approved training courses in film, videotape and digital editing. Members should contact Norman Gay regarding application for Help Fund monies. The Management and Union Trustees for the Videotape Training Fund have also agreed to continue the Fund's training subsidy program. Members should contact Norman to apply for these benefits as well. In March, Ted Troll and Peter C. Frank were appointed trustees of the Retirement Fund for Eastern Region members. This fund was previously maintained by Local 771 and is separate from the Pension Fund, which comes from employer contributions. In November the Retirement Fund was set aside to benefit those who were members of Local 771 prior to the merger with Local 776. Ted and Peter have assured current retirees and future eligible members that the $30 monthly benefit will be maintained, and they are currently examining the fund's assets in order to determine future benefits. An interesting statistic uncovered from their research shows that of the 216 retired members, 50 are over age 80 and 10 have reached their 90th birthday. We congratulate Michael Frank, son of Peter Frank, on his selection as one of two recipients of the annual college scholarship offered to children of IATSE members through the Richard F. Walsh/Alfred W. Di Tolla/Harold P. Spivak Foundation. Michael plans to attend Stanford University in the fall, majoring in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. Ted Troll informs us of the death of long-time Eastern Region member Polly Rubenstein. Polly was an assistant editor described by her friends as "that certain kind of person." She joined Local 771 in January, 1959, and during her long career worked at RKO General, Marathon International, Hearst Metrotone News, ABC Television and Children's Television Workshop, where she received an Emmy award. Polly was a member of the Local 771 Pension and Welfare Committee, and even after her retirement in 1989 continued to serve as a member on many election committees. I thank Ted Troll for other information submitted to this column, and encourage all members to contact me when they have newsworthy items. In general, members should not hesitate to contact the Eastern Region office staff whenever they have a work- or Guild-related question or suggestion.   Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter Vol. 20, No. 4 - July/August1999   Guild Home | Newsletter Home | Top of Page   Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700