Gloria Borders at Stonehenge, a photo taken while traveling through England for filming of Snow White and the Huntsman.
Gloria Borders ’73: Cutting a Wide “SWATH” in Hollywood.
Academy Award winner is an executive producer for smash hit Snow White and the Huntsman (SWATH)
Gloria Borders ‘73, along with Palak Patel, was an executive producer for the recent box office smash hit Snow White and the Huntsman, which was the top grossing movie in the United States on the weekend of June 1. Borders has been a mainstay in Hollywood for nearly four decades, specializing in the areas of post production and visual effects. Her expertise and skill in these areas eventually led to executive positions in the industry. When Borders graduated from Moorestown Friends School in 1973 and enrolled at the University of San Francisco, little did she know she would soon meet and network with names like Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Jim Cameron, Carroll Ballard and other industry giants. Borders had planned to study pre-law but eventually moved into the area of film and cinema production after transferring to San Francisco State University. After graduating, she became involved in the Bay Area documentary film scene working in all aspects of documentary filmmaking. “It was a perfect storm opportunity in the ’70s when many young filmmakers wanted to get away from Hollywood and 10
Gloria Borders • Executive Producer Snow White and the Huntsman • Academy Award winner for Sound Effects Editing, 1992: Terminator 2: Judgment Day • Academy Award nominee for Sound Effects Editing, 1995: Forrest Gump • B.A., San Francisco State University a lot of really interesting documentary films were made in northern California,” said Borders. Her connections would serve her well as she progressed up the industry ladder. “When I went to college there (in the Bay Area), who knew I was going to work with many of the best directors of our time?” asked Borders matter-of-factly referring to her famous friends referenced above. She eventually moved into the feature film industry when she was hired to work on Lucasfilm’s Return of the Jedi, which began a 20-year involvement with George Lucas and his renowned Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) divisions. She won an Academy Award in 1992 for sound effects editing for her work on Terminator 2: Judgment Day and was also nominated in 1995 for her work on Forrest Gump. Her tenure with Lucas concluded with her serving as General Manager of Skywalker Sound and Vice President of Lucas Digital Ltd. During that four-year span from 1996-2000, she managed the marketing of the facility and the postproduction for projects such as Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, Toy Story I and II, A Bug’s Life, Lost World, and many more. In 2000, Borders parted ways with Lucas when she was named Head of Post Production at Joe Roth’s Revolution