Danielle Boesenberg ASE President
Earlier this year, we sent a survey to members about the awards, and it occurred to us that many of you may not know the history of the trophy, and how the Ellies came to be.
The Ellie was a solid cast bronze elephant, weighing over a kilo, with a stamp on the underside detailing the winning Editor’s work.
This year we’re making a change, but we didn’t want to do that without honouring the history and significance of the Elephant. We also want to assure you all that we have very much kept these priorities top of mind with the new design.
Peter Whitmore ASE and Andrea Lang ASE were part of the leadership group who established the awards - and came up with the elephant trophy concept - almost 20 years ago.
Peter:
I joined the Guild out of a sense of gratitude for honouring me with Accreditation (it was such a surprise and a feeling of joy). I joined the Committee in the same year (2003).
The following year Sara Bennett stepped down and I took over the role of President. Accreditation gave us momentum and soon after we started a conversation about Awards. I’ll be honest it was not a conversation everyone was happy to have, you see Editors are an egalitarian bunch, we lived in our darkened rooms, not used to the spotlight.
Awards were competitive and some felt even a little uncouth, but in the end we all considered it essential for the growth of our Guild and our profiles.
So once we had made that decision to create an award we set about the task of defining the look and feel of the award. We were looking for something unique, not the obvious. No mounted scissors or splicers etc.
We explored stories and ultimately came up with the elephant stamp. This was a stamp our teachers gave us for very good work in primary school. Now not everyone was aware of this, but many were and it was enough to explore its worth.
For many of us it was the first recognition of something we had done well at school. We were given an elephant stamp. Our first introduction to pride of place. We were special. Maybe the stamp was sufficient on a framed certificate. It was ours. It reflected VG work. It reflected us.
As Ricky Gervais would say, we could have just left it there…
But no, we had to come up with something of significance. Something with weight and gravitas. This was no glib plastic ornament. This was something to be proud of, something the other guilds and societies could view with esteem.
Because Editors shunned the spotlight, this was a statement. Our statement.
We could place the rubber stamp on the base with all the relevant information and present it to the recipient with a stamp pad. The winner would take it back to their table and stamp it on the white table sheet and napkins, on each other’s foreheads etc.
It was playful, expressive and loved.
Andrea:
The Committee decided to expand from holding a magnificent Christmas party to including awards. Many editing awards are given by people who may not always even know what an Editor does, much less what makes an outstanding edit. A lot of ‘a fast cut is a good cut’. Ours would be the only awards for Editors by Editors, the toughest room…
It seems obscure now to end up with an elephant, but we wanted an award that would be significantly weighty, have a catchy name, and sum up some of the qualities of a good Editor. An elephant is magnificent, protective, carries weight and can become wild if enraged. This developed into the idea of elephants never forget…. Editors hold the secrets of an edit. This was eloquently summed up in a limited edition T-shirt Lindi Harrison ASE designed which had the Ellie stamp on the front with ‘Remember’. And on the back ‘We make you look good’.
The trophy is a good solid, desirable object. With the stamp underneath. The idea of an elephant stamp on the forehead for good work at school became part of the ceremony.
In early days winners were ceremonially ’stamped’ on the forehead with the Ellie so they could be branded for the night. The 'Baby Elephant Walk‘ music was a fun way to get Editors up onto the stage.
And we called it the ‘Ellies’.
Thank you, Peter and Andrea.
We’re looking forward to unveiling the exciting new trophy design at the Ellies in November. It preserves all of these ideals in a contemporary reimagining.