Shirley Thompson

Introduction (2-3 lines)

A seasoned documentary producer, writer and editor, and a passionate storyteller, Shirley Thompson is best known for the documentaries she has edited and/or produced, including Savvy (2020), Finding Kukan (2016), Kū Kanaka: Stand Tall (2016), Winning Girl (2014), Pidgin: the Voice of Hawai‘i (2008), Special Circumstances (2006), Surfing for Life (2000) & It’s Elementary (1996). A New Orleans native who lived and worked in San Francisco and Dallas, she is based in Honolulu, Hawai‘i.

Shirley Thompson is a veteran documentary editor, writer and producer based in Honolulu. She is best known for the documentaries she has edited and produced: Reel Wāhine of Hawai‘i (2021), Embers of Awakening (2021), Savvy (2020), Kū Kanaka (2016), Finding Kukan (2016), Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai‘i (2008), and It’s Elementary (1996). Since 1989, she has run her own company Shirley Thompson Editorial, through which she works with filmmakers from New York City to Austin to San Francisco and Honolulu. As a Latina and a child of immigrants born in New Orleans, Louisiana, she has a life-long commitment to create work that builds bridges across cultures and communities.

Shirley is a member of the New Day Films collective since 1993.

New Day Films by Shirley Thompson

Awards & Accolades

Best Editing Award Cine Ceara Film Festival, Fortaleza, Brazil September 2007
2000 Northern California Emmy Award, Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Bronze Award for Experimental Film at the 2008 Worldfest Houston Film Festival
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