Eileen Meyer has been awarded the 2016 Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship. Meyer edited the award-winning 2015 documentary “Best of Enemies,” an exploration of pundit politics.
The editor will receive the Fellowship at the SXSW Film Festival Awards Ceremony on March 15.
The Fellowship will support the emerging documentary editor by providing a cash award of $1,000 as well as mentorship. Mayer will benefit from the expertise of Kim Roberts (“The Hunting Ground”) and others.
Meyers is currently working on a documentary — working title: “State and Union” — about three lesbian families in Alabama and their struggle for equality. The project is directed by Lara Embry and Carolyn Sherer.
The Fellowship was launched in 2010 to honor the late documentary film editor Karen Schmeer who was killed by a car in 2009.
“Karen’s work has been inspiring to me in numerous and surprising ways, and it is humbling to join such an incredible group of past fellows,” said Meyer in a statement. “I just want to say thank you to Karen’s amazing group of friends who have created this opportunity in the face of such a tragedy. It is a true testament to her spirit and the effect she had on the people who knew her and the world, that her legacy will be carried on by generations of editors to come. I am looking forward to learning, sharing and collaborating — and to an amazing year ahead!”
Schmeer Fellowship Board President Garret Savage commented, “Eileen is a talented rising editor whose interest in subject matter ranges from social justice issues to music docs.” He continued, “She’s a team player who loves collaborating with her co-editors and directors. We look forward to expanding her community and connecting her to inspiring mentors as she forges her career path and furthers her editing style.”
