The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG), Local 700 IATSE. will honor retired machinist, cinetechnician and union representative Joseph A. Aredas with its prestigious Fellowship and Service Award tonight, May 2, 2015 at a dinner at the Sheraton
Universal Hotel.
The Fellowship and Service Award was established nine years ago by the Guild to recognize an individual who embodies the values the Guild holds most dear: Professionalism, Collaboration, Mentorship, Generosity of Spirit and a Commitment to the Labor Movement.
"Joe Aredas has been a significant force in the labor movement of the film industry for the whole of his career," commented Alan Heim, ACE, President of the Editors Guild. "He's one of the few individuals who has sat on both sides of the negotiating table and therefore has developed - and maintained - an overriding sense of fairness. It is an absolute honor for the Guild to be able to present him with this award."
Previous recipients of this distinguished honor include Donn Cambern, ACE; Dede Allen, ACE; IATSE International President Emeritus Thomas C. Short; Carol Littleton, ACE; Don Hall and Donald O. Mitchell.
ABOUT JOSEPH A. AREDAS - Joseph A. Aredas, a native of Los Angeles, California, began his career in the entertainment industry in 1967 at the MGM machine shop as a cinetechnician designing and fabricating camera and editorial equipment as a member of Local 789 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada (IATSE). Due to a layoff at MGM after eight months, Aredas took a temporary job at Consolidated Film Industries (CFI) that ended up lasting 12 years.
In 1980, Aredas was appointed Assistant Business Representative of IATSE Local 695, a position he held for seven years. Soon after, he returned to CFI as Vice President of Labor Relations and Human Resources. In December 1997, he left CFI to assume the position of Chief Executive Officer at the Industry's Contract Services Administration Trust Fund that is jointly administered by the Producers and the IATSE. From 1998 until his retirement in 2006, Aredas served as the International Representative-in-Charge of the IATSE West Coast Office.
Aredas has served on the following boards and organizations: Vice President, California Labor Federation; Board of Directors, Motion Picture Television Fund; Board of Directors, Motion Picture Editors Guild; Board of Directors and Past President of Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI); Board of Directors Motion Picture Pension and Health Plans; Board Member, California Film Commission; Past Chairman of the Los Angeles Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC) and Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissioners from 2005 to 2013. He currently serves as a Vice President for the Regional Airport Improvement Corporation and is on the Board of Directors of Birdi & Associates, a software company located in Pasadena, California.
ABOUT THE MPEG FELLOWSHIP AND SERVICE AWARD - Most awards honor accomplishment but the Motion Picture Editors Guild Fellowship and Service Award is an honor based upon a set of values and salutes individuals who embody those values. They are: Professionalism, Collaboration, Mentorship, Generosity of Spirit and Commitment to the Labor Movement.
Professionalism may sound like it speaks for itself. But the integrity at its core must include the human values of compassion and respect for co-workers.
Perhaps the defining quality for an Editors Guild member, Collaboration should apply to one's peers -- and future peers -- as well as to directors, producers and writers.
Mentorship is simply a form of instruction akin to friendship.
Generosity of Spirit is more than the actions one does; it is a state of being. It is the golden rule personified.
Last, but certainly not least, is Commitment to the Labor Movement. A union is two things: a set of ideals and a living, human enterprise. Being a member of a union means contributing to both of these things. It means giving help where it's needed and being able to work with a variety of people, with various interests and dispositions. It also means moving our better interests forward as best as we can.
ABOUT THE MOTION PICTURE EDITORS GUILD - The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG) is a national labor organization currently representing over 7,200 freelance and staff post-production professionals. MPEG is the world's premiere craft Guild that sets the standards for excellence in the post-production industry. The requirements to become a member of the Guild and to be placed on its Industry Experience Roster ensure the highest level of professionalism.
As Local 700 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), an international union over 100 years old, MPEG is allied with some 500 affiliated locals in the United States and Canada with a combined membership of more than 104,000. This strength increases its collective power at the bargaining table and results in better contracts with superior benefits.
MPEG negotiates new collective bargaining agreements (union contracts), enforces existing agreements with employers involved in post-production and provides assistance for securing better conditions - including but not limited to financial (better pay), medical (better health insurance), safety (turnaround time) and artistic (assignment of credit) concerns.
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