Throughout the month of May, the Pan Pacific Asian Steering Committee will highlight Asian American members—past and present—celebrating their achievements and contributions.
John Soh was an award-winning picture editor best known for his documentary work with the underwater filmmaker, Jacques Cousteau, and on the 1996 Showtime miniseries, Hiroshima. During the Korean War, Soh joined the U.S. Marines and served as a translator on the frontlines. At war’s end he received a scholarship to attend Chapman College in Los Angeles and moved to the United States.
Impressed with his work, a professor suggested Soh transfer to UCLA Film School, which he did. This was the beginning of a long career as an editor, and later as a producer. He started out working in documentaries, repairing negatives for educational films. Later he worked with documentary producer, David Wolper, editing various projects. His longest creative partnership was with underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau and spanned seventeen years.
He edited twenty three episodes of the series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also directed the feature documentary, Jacques Cousteau: the First 75 years. Soh also received an Emmy nomination for his work on Showtime’s Hiroshima. Soh added his grace and professionalism to many films for over fifty years and was honored with the ACE Career Achievement Award in 2007 for his body of work.
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