Don Hall, M.P.S.E
On October 15, 2011, the Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG) will honor veteran sound editor and lifetime member Don Hall, M.P.S.E., with its Fellowship and Service Award. The Guild established the Fellowship and Service Award five years ago to recognize an individual who has demonstrated professionalism, collaboration, mentorship, generosity of spirit and a commitment to the labor movement.
The ceremony will be held in Los Angeles at a location to be announced later this summer. MPEG explains that previous awards were presented during the Guild’s annual Board Installation Dinner; this year, the ceremony will take place as a stand-alone event to which all members of MPEG will be invited.
“Don Hall’s impressive career as a sound editor spans almost 60 years, and throughout it, he has exemplified a tireless work ethic and has always led by example,” says Danny Cahn, A.C.E., president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. “On behalf of the Guild’s Board of Directors, I am extremely proud to announce that he is the 2011 recipient of our Fellowship and Service Award. Don is the very embodiment of the qualities that the award honors.”
Previous recipients of this distinguished honor include Donn Cambern, A.C.E.; Dede Allen, A.C.E.; Carol Littleton, A.C.E.; and IATSE International President Emeritus Thomas C. Short.
During a career in television and film encompassing six decades, sound editor Don Hall has worked with directors including Mel Brooks, Robert Altman, Norman Jewison, William Friedkin and John Frankenheimer, among many others. Hall’s work has garnered many awards, including several Emmy nominations, winning in 1967 for his work on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and in 1971 for his work on Tribes.
Hall was also twice nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), winning in 1969 for his work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He has earned awards for film and television projects from both the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) and the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE). In 2004, Hall received the MPSE’s Career Achievement Award and, in 2006, was presented with the John Bonner Medal of Commendation, the highest honor given to a person in the sound field from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) He also received the esteemed Peabody Award for Excellence in Television in 1976 for his work on the M*A*S*H TV series.
Hall is a founding member of the Motion Picture Sound Editors and for nearly a decade has served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He is a member of the Academy’s Scientific & Technology Council, vice chairman for the Academy’s Student Academy Awards, and a member of several other industry organizations, including the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers, Hollywood Post Alliance, and Film Independent.
Visit the Motion Picture Editors Guild at www.editorsguild.com.
