4/1/98
Contact: Sharon Teo, School of Film, (740) 593-1323
ATHENS, Ohio -- Sharon Teo's walk to the stage from the back of the huge Beverly Hilton International ballroom in Beverly Hills, Calif., was so long her date lost sight of her for awhile. But the ACE Eddie Award for film editing the Ohio University graduate student picked up during her moment in the limelight was worth the hike.
"It was everything you imagined," Teo said of the 48th annual American Cinema Editors awards dinner, the equivalent of the Academy Awards for film editors. "The first person I saw when I got off the elevator was James Cameron."
And just as Cameron did at the Oscars, Hollywood's hottest director saw his blockbuster "Titanic" take top honors -- this time for best-edited feature film -- at the ACE Awards.
One of eight award winners at the March 14 dinner, Teo took home a statuette for the ACE Best Student Editing Award. She also received a mention in the Hollywood trade journals Variety and Hollywood Reporter.
Teo was among 50 contestants nationwide and one of three competition finalists invited to the awards dinner. Contestants had to edit 15 minutes of 16-millimeter film footage from the television drama "Law and Order" down to three to four minutes.
A native of Malaysia who was raised in Singapore, Teo expects to graduate this August with a master of fine arts in film. Then she plans to look for a job in Los Angeles, where she hopes her ACE honor and the contacts she made when she went to accept it help her land a position as a film editor.
"I definitely want to edit movies, whether it's TV movies or motion pictures," Teo said. "My interest really is in mainstream storytelling right now." She describes storytelling films, or narratives, as any of those nominated for best picture Oscars this year as opposed to documentary or experimental films.
Jack Wright, an assistant professor of film at Ohio University, said Teo is a meticulous film editor and, at the same time, a free spirit in her work.
"Out of all the editors that I've taught, she's certainly one of the best," said Wright, who has taught editing for six years and served on the School of Film faculty for nine years. "She just has this intuitive touch to her work, almost seamless editing."
Wright said Teo's achievement speaks well for the School of Film and the caliber of its students. "We're certainly proud of her and thankful that we were able to provide her with the tools and hopefully the support to get her work done," he said.
Teo is in the process of completing her master thesis film, "Gong Hee Fatt Choy!" ("Happy New Year!"), which recently was shot in Singapore with the help of several of her peers in the School of Film. She wrote and directed the film, which is about a mother-daughter relationship, and now is editing it. She also works as a graduate assistant in the School of Dance.
After graduation, Teo -- who holds a bachelor of science in radio/TV/film from the University of Texas -- hopes to gain some professional film editing experience in the States and eventually return to Singapore, where the film industry still is in its infancy. Her two sisters work in the television industry there, one writing situation comedies and the other as an assistant vice president overseeing production of sitcoms for the Television Corp. of Singapore.