Scott Neeson
Encyclopedia
Scott Neeson is a Scottish-Australian film
executive and philanthropist
.
, Scotland
. At age 5, he emigrated with his family to Australia
.
He was raised in the industrial city of Elizabeth
, South Australia
, and launched what was to be a successful career in the film business with a company that operated drive-in movie theaters. He quickly climbed the ranks of the Australian film industry before accepting a position with 20th Century Fox International in Los Angeles
.
, Braveheart
, Independence Day
, X-Men
, the Star Wars prequel trilogy and over 100 other films.
. It was in between these two jobs that Neeson took a brief sabbatical to Southeast Asia, and was invited by a Phnom Penh
resident to visit Steung Meanchey, the toxic landfill on the outskirts of Cambodia
's capital city.
Stunned by the desperation and unlikely courage of the families and children living there, Neeson spent the remainder of his holiday laying the foundation for Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF). By 2004, he had resigned from his position in Hollywood, sold his home, boat and cars, and moved to Cambodia to oversee CCF as Founder and Executive Director.
CCF was originally developed to provide a safe haven for 45 children in critical need. Today, CCF offers refuge, education and medical treatment to over 450 children across five separate facilities. Nearly two-thirds of these students once lived and worked in Steung Meanchey, picking plastic and metal out of the mountains of burning, hazardous waste and selling them to local recycling centers. CCF also welcomes many children in need from impoverished rural regions of Cambodia.
In 2007, Quincy Jones
awarded Neeson the inaugural Harvard School of Public Health
“Q Prize” in recognition of his extraordinary leadership in advocacy for children, calling Neeson’s “selfless, remarkable commitment to the children of Cambodia” a “genuine profile in courage.” In the same year, CCF received the Rex Foundation
Bill Graham award for creating a safe haven for Cambodian children to thrive, learn and grow.
The public awareness of CCF has grown over the years with ABC Person of the week in November of 2008, an interview with CBS News and BBC News, articles in The Sunday Times, Conde Nast, Los Angeles Times, Reader’s Digest, The Huffington Post and Elle Magazine, as well as publications around the world. In addition, Lucky Severson of PBS did a 3 part series about Scott and Cambodian Children’s Fund that was aired during their Religion and Ethics Newsweekly show.
Today, Neeson divides his time between the CCF administrative offices and field work in the slum community of Steung Meanchey on the site of Phnom Penh's notorious garbage dump, and in the rural provinces of Cambodia. He knows all 700 plus children in his care, their names, histories, personalities and aspirations. Having successfully established four boarding schools for disadvantaged children, he has recently added a Daycare Program, Nursery and Maternal Care Program at the CCF Community Center. The Center also acts as a training ground for student graduates and employs more than 30 women, mostly unskilled mothers, from the local community. Over 40 women are employed in the workshop producing the distinctive range of bags that carries the Srey Meanchey label.
The free Medical Clinic that was opened in 2010 has greatly increased the number of children and families coming to the CCF Community Center on a daily basis.
In November 2006, the Star Bakery was opened to offer vocational training to older students and unemployed youth living in the Steung Meanchey slum community. In the coming year, the bakery will move to a new site, incorporating a small restaurant. The bakery/restaurant will offer training in customer service, food preparation and business management.
To meet the increasing number of kids hoping to attend school, CCF is building additional Satellite Schools within the poor village community. There are currently 4 facilities and Neeson plans to add 3 more in the next 12 months, bringing the number to 7.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
executive and philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
.
Early Life & career
Scott Neeson was born in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. At age 5, he emigrated with his family to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
He was raised in the industrial city of Elizabeth
Elizabeth, South Australia
Elizabeth is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.-History:Elizabeth was established in 1955 as part of a planned satellite town by the South Australian Housing Trust on rural land between the older towns of Salisbury and...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, and launched what was to be a successful career in the film business with a company that operated drive-in movie theaters. He quickly climbed the ranks of the Australian film industry before accepting a position with 20th Century Fox International in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
20th Century Fox
Neeson spent ten years at Fox, ultimately rising to the position of President, where he oversaw the releases of blockbusters such as TitanicTitanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
, Independence Day
Independence Day (film)
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
, X-Men
X-Men (film)
X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
, the Star Wars prequel trilogy and over 100 other films.
Cambodian Children's Fund
In 2003, Neeson left Fox to take up a new role at Sony Pictures EntertainmentSony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
. It was in between these two jobs that Neeson took a brief sabbatical to Southeast Asia, and was invited by a Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
resident to visit Steung Meanchey, the toxic landfill on the outskirts of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
's capital city.
Stunned by the desperation and unlikely courage of the families and children living there, Neeson spent the remainder of his holiday laying the foundation for Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF). By 2004, he had resigned from his position in Hollywood, sold his home, boat and cars, and moved to Cambodia to oversee CCF as Founder and Executive Director.
CCF was originally developed to provide a safe haven for 45 children in critical need. Today, CCF offers refuge, education and medical treatment to over 450 children across five separate facilities. Nearly two-thirds of these students once lived and worked in Steung Meanchey, picking plastic and metal out of the mountains of burning, hazardous waste and selling them to local recycling centers. CCF also welcomes many children in need from impoverished rural regions of Cambodia.
In 2007, Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
awarded Neeson the inaugural Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...
“Q Prize” in recognition of his extraordinary leadership in advocacy for children, calling Neeson’s “selfless, remarkable commitment to the children of Cambodia” a “genuine profile in courage.” In the same year, CCF received the Rex Foundation
Rex Foundation
The Rex Foundation was created by "members of the Grateful Dead and Friends" in 1983 as a charitable non-profit organization to "proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education." The organization is named after Rex Jackson, a Grateful Dead...
Bill Graham award for creating a safe haven for Cambodian children to thrive, learn and grow.
The public awareness of CCF has grown over the years with ABC Person of the week in November of 2008, an interview with CBS News and BBC News, articles in The Sunday Times, Conde Nast, Los Angeles Times, Reader’s Digest, The Huffington Post and Elle Magazine, as well as publications around the world. In addition, Lucky Severson of PBS did a 3 part series about Scott and Cambodian Children’s Fund that was aired during their Religion and Ethics Newsweekly show.
Today, Neeson divides his time between the CCF administrative offices and field work in the slum community of Steung Meanchey on the site of Phnom Penh's notorious garbage dump, and in the rural provinces of Cambodia. He knows all 700 plus children in his care, their names, histories, personalities and aspirations. Having successfully established four boarding schools for disadvantaged children, he has recently added a Daycare Program, Nursery and Maternal Care Program at the CCF Community Center. The Center also acts as a training ground for student graduates and employs more than 30 women, mostly unskilled mothers, from the local community. Over 40 women are employed in the workshop producing the distinctive range of bags that carries the Srey Meanchey label.
The free Medical Clinic that was opened in 2010 has greatly increased the number of children and families coming to the CCF Community Center on a daily basis.
In November 2006, the Star Bakery was opened to offer vocational training to older students and unemployed youth living in the Steung Meanchey slum community. In the coming year, the bakery will move to a new site, incorporating a small restaurant. The bakery/restaurant will offer training in customer service, food preparation and business management.
To meet the increasing number of kids hoping to attend school, CCF is building additional Satellite Schools within the poor village community. There are currently 4 facilities and Neeson plans to add 3 more in the next 12 months, bringing the number to 7.