Board of Governors
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Society of Camera Operators
PO Box 2006
Toluca Lake, California 91610
(818) 382-7070
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New Members
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The SOC Welcomes These New Members:
Active Members
Heather Page
Theo Pingarelli
Richard Leible
Mark G. Dawson
Associate Members
Daniel Urbain
Amy Abrams
Nina Varano
Shauna Brown
Student Members
Saman Yaghmai- Aledavoud
Craig Samuels
Thomas Hughes
Kimberly Culotta
Kirk D. Morrison
Taylor Mahony
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Upcoming Events
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General Membership Breakfast Meeting
Saturday, October 30
10am - 1pm
Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, CA
SOC Lifetime Achievement Awards
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Television Academy
in North Hollywood, CA
Keep an eye on this section for future announcements of important SOC workshops, screenings,
fund raisers,
and related events.PO Box 2006 Toluca Lake, California 91610 (818) 382-7070 8:00AM-5:00PM
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SOC Gear
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Do you need an SOC hat or other official SOC gear?
Visit the SOC online store on our website.
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| Our Sponsors |
Please click to visit our sponsors
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Greetings!
Welcome to the September issue of the SOC Newsletter. Please help us create an interesting and informative email each month. If you have ideas for short articles or photographs that relate to SOC members and activities, we'd love to see them. Please send them to secretary@soc.org.
Thanks,
Dan Gold, Editor, SOC Newsletter
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New SOC Digs
Filmtools Provides a New SOC Home
Earlier this year Stan McClain, SOC, former SOC president and owner of Filmtools in Burbank presented the SOC with a place to call home. He has given us the use of a private office in his newly renovated upstairs administrative area. In addition to the office space we have the use of a large meeting area complete with conference table (which converts into a poker table) and a lounge area with comfortable couches and chairs. We have held our most recent SOC Board of Governors meetings here with great success. Stan has graciously given us access to the kitchen area so we are able to have breakfast as we conduct the business of our Sunday morning Board meetings. In addition we have internet access which gives us the capability to do research on membership issues and connect wirelessly to fellow Board members in other geographic areas. At recent Board of Governors meetings we have been able to include Board members Aiken Weiss, SOC in Canada and Alec Jarnagin, SOC in New York through our internet connection. Board members David Grove, SOC, David Mahlmann, SOC, Chris Tufty, SOC, and Doug Knapp, SOC around the conference table. (left to right)  | This new SOC office will give us a central place from which to carry on our business. From here we will be able to scan, identify and organize the large collection of historical photographs that have been collecting over the years. The office will also help us with the long awaited production of SOC membership cards.  Many thanks to our long-time friend and supporter, Stan McClain, SOC and Filmtools. |
Founding Member
SOC Board Hears From a Founding Member
By David Tolsky, SOC
Upon recently receiving the SOC's
inaugural electronic newsletter, Co-Founder and Charter Member Owen Marsh, SOC,
(retired) was compelled to send this letter to the current SOC's Board of Governors:
Dear Board,
You can't imagine the great feeling your latest newsletter
has brought me. The education, the continuing charity donations, and the
comradery displayed make me feel as though we did something that was lasting
and great for so many years. (So long ago) we had the idea to form a group of
camera operators into a fraternal organization. Thank you so very
much for the work you are doing.
Most Sincerely,
Owen Marsh S.O.C. Retired
Co-founder and charter member
Owen Marsh, SOC, his wife Evelyn, and Brenda Good at the 1992 SOC Lifetime Achievement Awards. (left to right)  |
The 2010 Board of Governors of the SOC are proud to carry on
the tradition set forth by its founding members which included Mr. Marsh
(Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in Film-1992). It's an interesting story
how the SOC came to be;
Owen Marsh: "Our first meeting started in DuPar's restaurant
in Studio City at least 30 years ago. We started around breakfast time, but we
talked and drank coffee for so long that they asked us to leave when the lunch business
came in. We had to finish our meeting in the parking lot but that's how we got
started."
As far as which operators were present at that fateful
meeting, it varies depending on who you talk to, so I'm going to list the names
mentioned by our sources here: Owen Marsh, Ron Vidor, Mike Benson, Michael St.
Hilaire, Jerry Good, Howard Schwartz and Mike Chevalier.
"I believe this is when we coined the motto: 'We See It
First' " Mr. Marsh remembered with a chuckle, "Besides being the truth, we
thought it might anger certain DPs and directors..."
It wasn't too long before the charter members outgrew the
coffee shop and moved into their new headquarters at the Motion Picture Home's
library. By then Associate members were being accepted and The Eye Care Clinic
at Children's Hospital (now the Vision Center at Children's Hospital, Los
Angeles) had been established as the SOC's charity.
Much of the goals discussed at that now famous meeting have
become the roots of what the SOC continues
to strive for: Says Marsh: "Education
(in the form of workshops, seminars and panel discussions), and the exchange of
ideas for the improvement of our craft. But most of all, ...having the camera operator
recognized as a vital member of the team that produces the image on the screen..."
Over the years and even through retirement, Owen Marsh has
not lost his enthusiasm for the society he helped organize. "I still take pride
in being a member and still have the SOC decal on the back window of my pickup
truck and car. Every once in a while someone will ask me what it is-and that's
when I tell them all about our little club that grew into the organization it
is today."
One of the largest camera crews of the times on George Stevens' "Greatest Story Ever Told" at the WaWeep Indean reservation in Southern Utah, 1963. All locations are now under the water of Lake Powell. Owen Marsh, SOC is the assistant behind the camera.  |
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SOC General Membership Breakfast Meeting
Sponsored by Arri and Dolby
The next SOC General Membership Meeting will take place on Saturday, October 30 at 10am at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills. Our sponsors will be Arri and Dolby. This is a great opportunity to meet and network with fellow SOC members. It's also a good time to talk to the SOC officers and committee chairs. You can find out what is going on in your organization and volunteer to help with upcoming events and other committee work.
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Join A Committee
The SOC Needs Your Help
The Society of Camera Operators is a volunteer organization which depends heavily on the participation of its members. Various committees are chaired by members of the Board of Governors who volunteer their time and effort to support SOC activities ranging from the sale of official SOC hats and t-shirts to organizing the SOC Lifetime Achievement Awards. All of the committee chairs need your help. Please volunteer to join one or more of the committees. It's a great way to learn more about our organization, network with other members, and become a part of the worthwhile activities of your Society.
Below is a list of SOC committees. Please look it over, then contact the chair to get more information and find out what you can do to help out. If you are interested in a committee that does not have a chair listed, please contact any officer of the Board.
Corporate Liaison, David Mahlmann, SOC SOC Awards Committee. Chair, David Mahlmann, SOC Screenings and Events Committee. Chair, Mark August, SOC Screenings Subcommittee. Co Chair David Tolsky, SOC Membership Committee. Chair, Vacant Publications Committee. Chair, Jack Messitt, SOCPublicity Committee. Chair, Vacant Communications Committee. Chair, Warren Yeager, SOC Charity Committee. Chair, Bonnie Blake, SOC Merchandise and Promotions Committee. Chair, Aiken Weiss SOC Education Committee. Chair, Steven Fracol, SOC Tech Standards Committee. Chair, Erwin Landau, SOC Constitution and Bylaws Committee. Chair, Dan Gold, SOC |
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