American Cinematographer - July 2008 - (Page 82)

In Memoriam I Burton “Bud” Stone, Honorary ASC, 1928-2008 n a letter dated Sept. 9, 1975, ASC President Lester Shorr wrote to new associate member Bud Stone, “Please feel that you are a full-fledged member in the ASC, and that we will be happy to cooperate with you in every way possible to make your membership of value to you and the Society.” During the three decades that ensued, Stone went out of his way to likewise cooperate with the Society, selflessly donating his time and energy and inspiring countless others to do the same. Only 24 people have been named honorary members of the ASC, and by the time Stone died, in April 2008, he was one of them. Burton “Bud” Stone was born in Englewood, N.J., on Feb. 16, 1928. His father, the chief engineer at Consolidated Film Industries (CFI) in Fort Lee, introduced the young Stone to the film business at an early age, giving him the chance to work as batboy for the CFI baseball team and later as can boy in the lab. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1945-1947, Stone attended Florida Southern College on the G.I. Bill. With a degree in hand, he returned to the New York area, taking a job at Hollywood Film Service as an apprentice film editor. In 1953, Stone became CFI’s East Coast service manager and was soon promoted to sales manager, then general manager. He was hired by Movielab as the national sales manager, and he formed his own company, All Service Film Labs, in 1963. In 1971, after a stint as vice president of Technicolor in New York, Stone became president of Precision Film Laboratories, an affiliate of Deluxe General Inc., Hollywood. Stone began making the occasional jaunt to Hollywood to check in with the Deluxe home office. Bruce Berke adds, “Bud was really concerned about the people he worked with regardless of whether they were vendors, employees or customers. He was as nice to the parking valet as he was to the chairman of the board.” Daryn Okada, ASC, recalls meeting Stone at Deluxe in the late 1980s, when the cinematographer was watching dailies for an independent film he’d shot. “Bud was genuinely interested in making sure I didn’t feel intimidated, which was a fantastic quality of his,” Okada recalls. “He was a very powerful man, but he brought it right down to the individuals.” Owen Roizman, ASC, who met Stone on the East Coast and got to know him after both men relocated to Los Angeles, says, “He was the epitome of the word ‘executive.’” In 1986, when the ASC inaugurated its Outstanding Achievement Awards, Stone “was one of the associate members to come aboard immediately, and he was very supportive and very generous,” recalls Michael Margulies, ASC, who co-chaired the event with Woody Omens, ASC. Margulies eventually tapped Stone to take over the Awards Chair position — the only time an associate member has ever chaired an ASC committee — and in Stone’s hands, “the awards moved to the level they’re at now, and I’m very proud of that,” says Margulies. “Bud’s talents as a raconteur, mixer and friend helped popularize the ASC Awards,” says Omens. “I looked at him as a spiritual leader in terms of getting people motivated; he had so much charisma and persuasive charm.” Roizman, who eventually became Stone’s co-chair on the Awards Committee, adds, “He wanted to have a class act, and he turned the awards into what Berke, an ASC associate member who worked for Deluxe at the time, recalls, “Bud would show up from New York with a bouquet of flowers and walk from desk to desk, stopping to hand a flower to every female employee. Of course, he also stopped to shake hands with all the men. That was Bud — always very one-on-one with his people.” Stone’s personal touch did not go unnoticed at Deluxe, and in 1978, he was brought to Hollywood to serve as the company’s president, a position he held for the remainder of his career. Stone worked harder than ever on the West Coast, but his business acumen never clouded his relationships, according to ASC associate member and retired Deluxe employee Ron Koch: “The luckiest day of my life was when I met Bud. I went to work for him thinking it was just going to be another job, but I became part of the family. I never felt like I was going to work in the morning.” 82 July 2008 Photo on this page by Douglas Kirkland. Additional photos courtesy of Bruce Berke.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2008

American Cinematographer - July 2008 Contents Editor's Note Global Village: Torn from the Flag Short Takes: On a Tuesday Production Slate: Before the Rains WALL-E Batman Looms Larger A Not-So-Super Hero Spy vs. Spy Laugh Factory Post Focus: CineSynce Streamlines Dark Knight Effects New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: Burton "Bud" Stone, Honorary ASC Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Bill Taylor

American Cinematographer - July 2008

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