Robert Daniel Marta (October 5, 1943 – April 13, 2017) was founding member and the first president of the Society of Operating Cameramen — now Society of Camera Operators.[1][2]
In 1979, he and twelve other camera operators began working to professionalize the working camera operators' role in the motion picture and television industry, forming the Society of Operating Cameramen (SOC). They incorporated in 1981 in California as a nonprofit organization and he was elected as the Founding President of the Society. The SOC has since changed its name to The Society of Camera Operators to better identify its diverse membership of both men and women.[3] He served as the SOC president until 1985 and was one of the early champions of the industry–wide labor-management safety committee.[4]