For each day in the month of February, the African American Steering Committee will be highlighting Local 700’s African American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African Americans have had on the industry.
Debra I. Moore (1951 – 2019)
Debi Moore was a Los Angeles based picture editor known for her extensive work in episodic television. She was born in Chicago, Illinois where she attended Catholic schools, eventually graduating college with a degree in still photography and film. Debi won the Nationwide “Best Student Film Award” in 1973 through the PBS TV Annual Contest, with “Don’t Explain,” a docu-drama on the untimely death of blues singer Bessie Smith. Shortly thereafter Debi moved to New York where she worked as an apprentice editor on the feature film “The River Niger.” Later she was hired by NBC in the news department where she became a Film Editor of the 6 and 11 O’clock News. Her big break came in 1980 when Princess Grace Kelly suddenly passed away, and Debi had to cut a 30 minute-news special on Kelly for the 6pm broadcast. In 1986, Debi arrived in Los Angeles, and began working for KCOP-TV news. Always technically savvy, Debi accepted a position at Viacom Productions in System Support and began teaching editors the next generation of editing equipment – EDIFLEX. Her first union job in her new hometown was as an assistant editor on “Jake and the Fatman.” She assisted on series such as “Perry Mason” and “Diagnosis for Murder” before moving up (again) to editing. Her high school friend, Deborah Pratt, invited her to cut the first episode of the series, “Girlfriends.” Debi was the editor of the feature film “Cane River” and MOWs like “Cora Unashamed” and “Playa’s Ball.” Her series credits include “The Net,” “City of Angels,” and “Charles in Charge.” Debi also edited 68 of the 80 episodes of “Soul Food: the Series” for Showtime.
