The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG) has selected International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) international president emeritus Thomas C. Short to be the recipient of the Guild’s Fellowship and Service Award for 2009. The illustrious honor will be presented to Short at the MPEG annual Board of Directors Installation Dinner on January 10, 2009 at Loews in Santa Monica, Calif.
“Tom Short has dedicated his career to the labor movement with integrity and exemplary leadership. He serves as a positive example to everyone in the entertainment industry and beyond,” said MPEG president Lisa Churgin, A.C.E. “Tom embodies everything that the MPEG Fellowship and Service Award represents and I am delighted that he will be this year’s recipient.”
The MPEG Fellowship and Service Award was established to recognize an individual who has demonstrated professionalism, collaboration, mentorship, generosity of spirit and a commitment to the labor movement. Previous recipients of the honor include editors Dede Allen and Donn Cambern.
Short’s life has been dedicated to fighting for the technicians, artisans and craftspeople of the entertainment industry. A member of IATSE since 1968, when he was initiated into Stagehands Local No. 27 in Cleveland, Ohio, he was elected international president in December 1994 and remained in that position until his retirement in July 2008.
Among Short’s many honors are the 2000 Directors Guild of America Honors Award, the 2003 Lew Wasserman Spirit of Democracy Award presented by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the 2004 Heart to Heart Award presented by Encore Community Services, The Actor’s Fund 2004 Medal of Honor, and the 2007 Motion Picture & Television Fund Silver Medallion Award.