Great effects workers
The best practical makeup/visual/optical effects guys and gals in Hollywood
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- Special Effects
- Visual Effects
- Writer
Adam Howarth was born on 5 December 1968 in Bristol, England, UK. He is a writer, known for A Knight's Tale (2001), Blackhat (2015) and Black Hawk Down (2001).- Special Effects
- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
Alec Gillis began his professional career in 1980 at Roger Corman's New World Pictures. While working with future luminaries such as James Cameron and Gale Ann Hurd, Alec also attended UCLA Film School. By 1985 he began working for Creature FX legend Stan Winston ("Aliens", "Predator", "Pumpkinhead"). There he met Tom Woodruff, Jr with whom he co-founded the Creature FX studio Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI) in 1988.
The duo received an Oscar for their work on "Death Becomes Her", as well as nominations for "Alien 3" and "Starship Troopers". They also won BAFTAs and Saturn Awards for the films "Starship Troopers" and "Jumanji".
Gillis is also a writer. His book Worlds: A Mission of Discovery has been optioned by a major studio. He's also written a number of screenplays and created a TV series.- June, 2014
- Visual Effects
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Born in Santa Barbara, CA. A fourth generation Californian, Alex has been a cinematographer for over 30 years. He studied biochemistry for several years in college, but in the early 1960's he switched to UCLA Film School. He subsequently worked with Stephen Burum, ASC. He spent eleven years with The Office of Charles and Ray Eames (shooting over 30 films at that time). His first effects project was Battlestar Galactica, at first with Apogee and then at Universal-Hartland. He founded Precision Film Group in the late 1970's, doing effects for TV and features. Later, at Las Palmas Production, he co-designed the first-ever system for pin-registered transferring of film to video. Although he is a specialist in miniatures and visual effects, he also shoots live action of all kinds. He has taught advanced cinematography courses at both UCLA (full-time faculty for two years) and Loyola University. He has been invited to give lectures on visual effects photography in Italy and Norway.- Special Effects
- Visual Effects
- Actor
Allen Hall was born May 4, 1946 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of a commercial airline pilot. In the early 60s his family relocated to Burbank, California where he came in contact with the film industry living so close to all the major studios. As a result, his interest in films began at an early age. In high school Allen distinguished himself by becoming president of his junior class at Burbank High School.
Shortly before his senior year his family moved to Thousand Oaks, California, where he graduated from T.O. High School in 1964. After high school he returned to Utah, where he attended Brigham Young University, obtaining a degree in Zoology. Allen was gifted with natural artistic talent and took an avid interest in oil painting, sculpture, music and engineering.
His creative desires led him to the movie business. In 1973, he met Glen Robinson, one of the greatest special effects supervisors at the time, who after six months of pestering gave Allen his break taking him under his wing on the film "Hindenburg." This was a big motion picture that was accorded an Academy Award Nomination and Technical Achievement Award in 1975. A few years later Allen met Joe Lombardi, another special effects icon, whose specialty was pyrotechnics.
Lombardi took a liking to the young talented Hall, and hired him to work on the classic war film "Apocalypse Now," where he designed and fabricated the burned and charred bodies of soldiers on the battlefield of Vietnam. Hall, went on to work on a host of films among which are the following successful pictures; "Top Gun," "The Untouchables," "Dead Poets Society," "Backdraft," "Forrest Gump," "Road to Perdition," "Terminator III Rise of the Machines," and "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest."
Hall's career has taken him to various international locations where he has spent over seven years of his career. He has worked for all the major studios and with highly recognized directors, Barry Levinson, Brian De Palma, Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, Francis Ford Coppola, the late Robert Altman, Tony Scott, Sam Mendes, and Jonathan Mostow.
Hall, is a four time Academy Award Nominee and winner of two Oscars, the most recent in 2007, for his work on "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man' Chest." His passion for the art of films continues and his career is still flourishing. He is a member of the Visual Effects Branch - Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as well as the Visual Effects Society. He has been a speaker to symposiums on film and to the educational community.- Visual Effects
Anders Langlands is known for War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), The Batman (2022) and The Martian (2015).- Visual Effects
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Andrew Lockley was born on 5 May 1971 in London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Inception (2010), Tenet (2020) and Interstellar (2014).- Visual Effects
- Director
- Writer
- Visual Effects
- Writer
- Director
Raised in rural Australia, Ben Snow studied computing and film at the University of Canberra. He did a variety of work and traveled extensively before working as a runner for a computer graphics house in London. Snow later returned to Australia to set up the computer animation department for a company in Sydney, where he worked on commercials and broadcast indents and openers, including a computer graphics title sequence for the TV series, Beyond 2000.
Snow left Australia to join Industrial Light & Magic in 1994, where his first project was to help create the three-dimensional computer graphics image of the Enterprise B for Star Trek: Generations. This version had to intercut seamlessly with the motion-control model shot on ILM's soundstage, one of the first such endeavors for a feature film.
After spending several years in New Zealand with Weta Digital as Visual Effects Supervisor on King Kong, Snow returned to ILM in 2008 to work as the company's Visual Effects Supervisor on the Marvel franchise kick starter, Iron Man. He also served as the Visual Effects Supervisor on Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic, Noah. Since rejoining ILM, Snow has been honored with a number of Academy Award, Visual Effects Society, and BAFTA nominations for achievement in visual effects.- Visual Effects
- Actor
Bill Westenhofer is known for Life After Pi (2014), The Golden Compass (2007) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005).- Special Effects
- Director
- Visual Effects
Brian Johnson is a award winning special and visual effects designer and director who for over 40 years provided his services to a multitude of film and television productions.
Johnson's career began in 1957 when he joined Anglo Scottish Pictures after meeting veteran effects artist and skilled matte painter Les Bowie moving on to become a clapper loader and filming effects plates for Dunkirk (1958). After becoming a Hammer films effects assistant in 1958 Johnson's national service in the RAF followed before moving on to film the 1961 apocalyptic classic The Day the Earth Caught Fire during which he was an effects assistant at Bowie Films.
In 1961 Johnson joined AP Films (later Century 21) under the talented Derek Meddings, firstly as a model builder and flyer on Gerry Anderson classics such as Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray and later a second unit director on the groundbreaking television series Thunderbirds. By 1966 Johnson left Century 21, taking with him a wealth of knowledge and found himself working on a Stanley Kubrick picture called 2001: A Space Odyssey on special effects shots which took over two years to complete. 2001 of course went on to become a huge success and to this day remains one of the most influential and highly regarded pictures of the science fiction genre.
After 2001 film, Johnson went on to work on various film and television productions including Moon Zero Two, On the Buses, Z Cars, and the Hammer production When Dinosaurs Ruled the World with renowned stop motion animator Jim Danforth who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. By 1974 Johnson was once again working for Gerry Anderson on his latest television series Space: 1999 producing high quality effects which are still highly regarded today, he was also responsible for designing the now iconic Eagle Transporter and various other craft of the series. It was during the production of 1999 at Bray Studios Johnson was first approached by two filmmakers to work on a big American space picture turning them down as he had signed for the second series of Space: 1999.
Johnson's next big production was to be Ridley Scott's Alien where he once again worked with friend and Space: 1999 collaborator Nick Allder on the various model miniature effects sequences out of Bray Studios as special effects supervisor. Meanwhile the American Space picture became Star Wars, the highest grossing film of all time, an Academy Award winner and a cult worldwide phenomenon, the two aforementioned filmmakers were George Lucas and Gary Kurtz. Fortunately for Johnson he was invited to work on the sequel The Empire Strikes Back where he supervised special and visual effects at the now world renowned Industrial Light and Magic.
In early 1980 Johnson's work on Alien was recognized when he was bestowed the 1979 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects along with H.R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Nick Allder and Dennis Ayling. Just after this The Empire Strikes Back was released to worldwide acclaim and the 1980 Special Achievement Academy Award was presented to Brian Jonhson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson in recognition of their achievements in the field of visual effects.
Johnson went on to work on Dragonslayer, at the request of Lucas and Spielberg and was nominated for another Academy Award, this time losing out to Raiders of the Lost Ark, this proved to be his final Lucasfilm production after which he worked on The NeverEnding Story and James Cameron's Aliens for which he was awarded a BAFTA for his contribution to visual effects.- Special Effects
Burt Dalton is known for Star Trek (2009), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).- Special Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Chris Corbould was born on 5 March 1958 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. He is an assistant director and director, known for Inception (2010), Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) and The Dark Knight (2008). He has been married to Lynne Corbould since 11 April 1986. They have two children.- Special Effects
- Art Department
- Actor
Daniel Sudick is known for Avengers: Endgame (2019), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Black Panther (2018).- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
- Director
Dennis Muren is the Senior Visual Effects Supervisor and Creative Director of Industrial Light & Magic. A recipient of nine Oscars for Best Achievement in Visual Effects and a Technical Achievement Academy Award®, Muren is actively involved in the evolution of the company, as well as the design and development of new techniques and equipment. In June 1999, Muren became the first visual effects artist to be honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In February 2007, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Visual Effects Society. Muren is currently working on a book focusing on "observation" for digital artists.
As Creative Director of Industrial Light & Magic, Muren is a key member of the company's leadership team and collaborates with all of ILM's supervisors on each of the films that the company contributes to.- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
- Special Effects
Dennis Skotak was born on 15 February 1943 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is known for Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). He was previously married to D.C. Fontana.- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
- Special Effects
Dick Smith was born on 26 June 1922 in Larchmont, New York, USA. He is known for The Exorcist (1973), Altered States (1980) and Scanners (1981). He was married to Jocelyn DeRosa. He died on 30 July 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Actor
Ed French was born on 17 April 1951 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Dragonball Evolution (2009) and Cooties (2014).- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Eric Brevig was born in 1957. He is an assistant director and director, known for Men in Black (1997), Total Recall (1990) and Pearl Harbor (2001).- Make-Up Department
- Location Management
- Special Effects
Greg Cannom was born in 1951 in the USA. He is known for Vice (2018), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Bicentennial Man (1999).- Make-Up Department
- Producer
- Special Effects
Gifted SFX and make-up wizard, who learned his trade under the watchful eye of SFX splatter guru Tom Savini. Nicotero and buddies, Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman started KNB Efx Group in 1988 and the group has provided eye-popping & jaw dropping special effects for major Hollywood releases including The Green Mile (1999), Vanilla Sky (2001), Sin City (2005) and Land of the Dead (2005).- Additional Crew
- Art Department
- Director
H.R. Giger was born on 5 February 1940 in Chur, Switzerland. He was a director, known for Alien (1979), Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens (1986). He was married to Carmen Maria Scheifele and Mia Bonzanigo. He died on 12 May 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Actor
Howard Berger was born in Los Angeles, CA. Howard was raised on monster films and knew at an early age someone made those monster for the movies and began figuring it out at age 8 when he was introduced to Famous Monster of Filmland Magazine. His parents were very supportive and indulged his obsession of makeup and monster. When Howard went to a sci-fi convention in LA, he saw his idol Rick Baker speak and that was it! Howard was hooked and with the inspiration from Rick, Stan Winston, Dick Smith, Rob Bottin and others, he forged a path towards his career in film and TV as a special makeup effects artist.
Once out of high school he began working at Stan Winston Studios on PREDATOR, ALIENS, PUMPKINHEAD and then moved on to work for Rick Baker on the Oscar winning HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS.
Howard ended up meeting fellow monster makers Greg Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman and the 3 became fast friends, room mates and eventually co-owners of KNB EFX GROUP, which was founded in 1988. In the decades to come Howard and Greg would gather a cache of great directors, actors and films to work with and in 2006, Howard won an Oscar for the makeup work in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. Howard would then be nominated again for his work on Sir Anthony Hopkins for the film HITCHCOCK.
Howard continues to be a guiding force at KNB, along with Greg Nicotero, and has added being a Makeup Dept. Head to his list of achievements, starting with Peter Berg's film LONE SURVIVOR. In the past decade he has Dept. Headed over a dozen films and TV series.
Howard is a Governor of there Makeup Artists and Hair Stylist Branch at the AMPAS. He lives in Sherman Oaks with artist wife Mirjam and he has 3 grown children, none of which followed in his foot steps, and followed their own dreams as he did.- Visual Effects
Jason Snell joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 as a Production Coordinator on Men In Black, and after a number of years overseeing ILM's Layout Department, he was promoted to Visual Effects Supervisor.
Snell graduated in 1994 from CSU Chico and worked as the only news photographer for the Chico-based CBS affiliate KHSL-TV. He later moved on to Los Angeles where he worked on The Tonight Show and a variety of TV sitcoms before trying his hand at film. His film resume includes Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Peter Berg's Battleship. In 2015, Snell served as the Visual Effects Supervisor on the Chinese blockbuster, Monster Hunt.- Make-Up Department
- Actor
As of 2022, I have department headed the make-up departments on over 40 films plus over 300 episodes on several television series. I specialize in action/adventure, futuristic/fantasy, war and period films, including seven with the actor, Dwayne Johnson. Before Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor, I department headed 19 of Arnold's films. Also worked with action greats, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. I'm the 3rd generation make-up artist in my family. Grandfather, Jack Dawn, a make-up artist for over 35 years was the "Director of Make-up" at MGM studios from 1935 to 1950 and responsible for over 100 films, including The Wizard of Oz (1939). My father, Robert Dawn, was a decorated P-38 fighter pilot during WWII. After the war, Robert followed in his fathers footsteps by becoming a make-up artist for the next 35 years. Uncle, Wes Dawn, also worked in the industry as a make-up artist for approximately 35 years. After graduating from Chapman College film school in 2011. Jeff,s son, Patrick Dawn has been working in the Hawaii, LA and Portland film and TV markets. Patrick is the 4th generation filmmaker in the Dawn family.- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Starting his career in 1980, Rygiel joined Pacific Electric Pictures, one of the earliest companies to employ computer animation for the advertising and film markets. In 1983, Rygiel's work took him to Digital Productions where he began work on The Last Starfighter (1984), a film notable for its pioneering use of digital imaging in place of models. While at Digital Productions, Rygiel's commercial work was nominated for numerous awards, winning a prestigious CLIO award for the introduction of the Sony Walkman. From 1987 to 1989, Rygiel supervised numerous projects while at visual effects companies Pacific Data Images (PDI) and Metrolight.
In 1989 Rygiel was asked to form and head a computer animation department at Boss Film Studios. This department of one grew to over 75 animators and 100 support staff within a little more than a year, winning several awards, including a CLIO Award for the Geo Prism automobile commercial. While at Boss, Rygiel supervised many feature films, both as Digital Effects Supervisor and Visual Effects Supervisor. His credits there include Starship Troopers, Species, Outbreak, Air Force One, The Scout, The Last Action Hero, Cliffhanger, Batman Returns, Alien III, and Ghost. After Boss Films closure Rygiel went on to supervise, The Parent Trap, Star Trek: Insurrection, Anna and the King, and 102 Dalmatians.
In 2002, Rygiel received the American Film Institute's first AFI Digital Effects Artist of the Year award, the Academy Award and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Visual Effects, for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Rygiel is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts.- Visual Effects
- Music Department
Joe Letteri's pioneering work in visual effects has earned him four Academy® Awards for Best Visual Effects - for Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and King Kong. He has a long-standing interest in creating compelling, realistic creatures - from Jurassic Park's dinosaurs, to Gollum, the Na'vi in Avatar, and Caesar from the Planet of the Apes franchise. He has developed many techniques that have become industry standards for creating photorealistic digital effects. This includes co-developing the subsurface scattering technique that brought Gollum to life (winning an Academy® Technical Achievement Award), and pushing the development of large-scale virtual production.
Under creative Joe's leadership, Weta Digital has continued to expand and improve these techniques through films like The Hobbit trilogy, The Adventures of Tintin, and The BFG. Joe is currently working with James Cameron on the Avatar sequels.- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
- Visual Effects
- Producer
- Special Effects
John Dykstra was born on 3 June 1947 in Long Beach, California, USA. He is a producer, known for Spider-Man 2 (2004), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Spider-Man (2002).- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
- Actor
In 1986, John Knoll joined Industrial Light & Magic as a Technical Assistant and was soon promoted to Motion Control Camera Operator for Captain EO. After three years of operating, John was called upon to work on the ground breaking digital effects for The Abyss, a film that saw the first use of Photoshop, which he had co-developed with his brother, Thomas. Since that time, John has been promoted to Visual Effects Supervisor helming the visual effects on more than twenty feature films and commercials and most recently Chief Creative Officer of the studio. His film background coupled with an advanced understanding of digital technologies has made John a much sought-after supervisor having been honored with an Oscar and a BAFTA Award for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and six additional visual effects Academy Award nominations as well as five additional BAFTA nominations.
John's supervisory credits also include the Star Wars Prequels, Episodes I, II,and III, Mission to Mars, Deep Blue Sea, Star Trek: First Contact, Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol and the Academy Award(TM)-winning Rango among others. Prior to his promotion to Chief Creative Officer in May of 2013 he served as the Visual Effects Supervisor on Guillermo del Toro's science fiction epic, Pacific Rim for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects. In 2017, John was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Visual Effects Society Award for Visual Effects for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first film in the Star Wars stand-alone series and one for which John served as both an Executive Producer and Visual Effects Supervisor. The film is based on a concept John created.
John's interest in filmmaking began at an early age. Having a keen interest in visual effects, he was mesmerized by the original Star Wars film. During a visit to ILM in 1978 he was able to observe first-hand the world of visual effects. Inspired to learn more, John attended the USC School of Cinema and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Production, while freelancing as a modelmaker at a variety of Los Angeles-based production facilities.
During his last year at USC, John took an advanced animation class where he built a motion control system from an Oxberry animation stand, an Apple II computer, a CNC milling machine controller, and a bunch of industrial surplus stepper motors. Impressed by the student film that was generated from this class project, ILM hired John as a Technical Assistant for motion control photography.
Greatly impressed by visits to ILM's newly founded computer graphics department, John took up computer graphics as a hobby. Teaming up with his brother who was working on his Doctoral Thesis in computer vision at the University of Michigan, the Knoll brothers created Photoshop in 1987.
John is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and currently serves on the Board of Governors representing the Visual Effects Branch.- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
John Nelson graduated with high distinction from the University of Michigan in 1976 with a Bachelors in General Studies. After college, he made several films that won awards at film festivals and moved to California in 1979 to work for Robert Abel and Associates, first as a cameraman, then as a technical director and finally as a director. He was nominated for Clio awards six times, winning twice. In 1987, he moved to Germany to help set up the German company Mental Images GMBH. Upon returning to the US John went to work for Industrial Light & Magic where he animated several key scenes in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), most notably where the shotgunned head of the chrome terminator re-seals itself.
John VFX supervised Stay Tuned (1992) for Rhythm & Hues Studios, and In the Line of Fire (1993), My Life (1993), The Pelican Brief (1993), Wolf (1994), Johnny Mnemonic (1995), Judge Dredd (1995), The Cable Guy (1996) and City of Angels (1998) for Sony Pictures Imageworks.
In 1998 Mr. Nelson left Sony to Senior VFX supervise Gladiator (2000) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (2001). After K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) and the Centropolis sections of The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Mr. Nelson supervised all the VFX in I, Robot (2004) and Iron Man (2008) both of which were nominated for the Academy Award in Visual Effects. On March 4, 2018 Mr. Nelson won his second Academy Award for the Special Visual Effects in Blade Runner 2049 (2017). He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Visual Effects Society, the International Cinematographers Guild and the Director's Guild of America.- Special Effects
- Production Manager
- Visual Effects
John Richardson was born on 10 June 1946 in Brentford, Middlesex, England, UK. He is a production manager, known for Aliens (1986), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Since 1995, Mark Stetson has been working as a visual effects supervisor. In 1997, he won a BAFTA (British Academy) Award for visual effects in his debut effort, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. In 2002, he won an Academy Award and his second BAFTA Award for visual effects in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring. In 2007, he was nominated for both his third Academy Award and his third BAFTA Award for Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Stetson gained international recognition in 1982 for his miniature effects work on Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. He was nominated for his first Academy Award for his miniature effects work on 2010. He worked on over 50 films as a model shop/prop shop/creature shop supervisor, a designer/illustrator, an effects facility founder, and an art director.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Art Department
Michael Broom is known for Alita: Battle Angel (2019), Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Dragonball Evolution (2009).- Animation Department
- Costume Designer
- Special Effects
British-born Neal Scanlan began his career at the age of nineteen as a Stop Motion Designer for Cosgrove Hall, on their production of 'Wind in the Willows' (1981). Three years later he moved to London and began his animatronics career on Walt Disney's 'Return to Oz' (1984). Forming a working relationship with designer Lyle Conway, he freelanced as the Chief Mechanical Designer on films such as Dennis Potter's 'Dream Child' (1984), Jim Henson's 'Labyrinth' (1985) and the 1986 Oscar nominated, film version of 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Neal became one of the founder members of the Jim Henson Creature Shop with whom he enjoyed a successful eight year relationship, first as an Animatronics Supervisor, then as Creative Supervisor. Some of the projects that Neal was directly involved with include, 'The Storyteller' (1987), 'Witches' (1988), 'Greek Myths' (1989) 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 & 2' (1988 & 90) and 'Dinosaurs' (1991). Neal's achievements and the success of Kennedy Miller's 'Babe' (1993) resulted in Neal and his 'Henson Creature Shop' team, producing the animatronic effects for Walt Disney's '101 Dalmatians' (1995), the Special Make-Up Effects for Anthony Minghella's Academy Award Winner, 'The English Patient' (1994) and numerous television commercials. In 1996, Neal left the Jim Henson Organisation to form the Neal Scanlan Studio. The first major project was Babe: Pig in the City, which was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Visual Effect. The studio went on to build a reputation for design and innovation and enjoyed 10 very successful years working on amazing feature films, tv shows and commercials. In 2011 Neal closed the studio in order to pursue a wider range of interests outside of the film industry but this all changed when Neal was asked to head up the creature and make up fx department for the new series of the Star Wars films. The Force Awakens was released on the 18th December 2015 to record breaking success, Neal went on to complete the Skywalker Saga along with spin off films Rogue One & Solo. Also working on other projects along the way such as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. With the upsurge of TV Productions, Neal has more recently been working on a number of Disney+ shows including Andor & Willow. Neal was also consulted during Pre-Production of Wednesday for the Thing character, suggesting to go for a performer rather than an animatronic version, Tim Burton went for this idea by using a performer. Neal is now working on a number of other interesting projects which will be released over the next couple of years.- Special Effects
- Actor
- Producer
Neil Corbould was born on 24 December 1962 in Lewisham, London, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Creator (2023), Gravity (2013) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). He is married to Maria Corbould.- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Nick Davis is known for The Dark Knight (2008), Edge of Tomorrow (2014) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).- Odemaris Burgos is known for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), Meg 2: The Trench (2023) and Rampage (2018).
- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pablo Helman joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 as the Sabre Department Supervisor. Prior to joining the company, Helman was a compositing supervisor on Independence Day for Pacific Ocean Post, a digital compositor on Apollo 13 and Strange Days for Digital Domain, and a compositor on numerous projects for Digital Magic. Helman received a Masters of Arts in Education from Cal Poly Pomona, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition from UCLA.
He has been nominated for two Academy Awards® for his work on Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and War of the Worlds, a film that also earned him a Visual Effects Society Award for Best Single Visual Effects of the Year. Helman is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.- Visual Effects
- Director
- Animation Department
Paul Franklin was born in 1966. After leaving high school he attended the Cheshire School of Art and Design for a year and then went up to St John's College, Oxford University to read Fine Art. Whilst studying he worked extensively in student theater design, film making and magazine design and became involved with a group of film makers which allowed him to combine his love of graphics through animation with the moving image.
After graduation in 1989 he worked variously in videotape editing and video graphic design. In 1992 Franklin joined the pioneering UK video games company Psygnosis as a computer artist, designing and creating 3D animations for a variety of gaming platforms including the nascent Playstation. Throughout this period he was working with a group of independent film makers, creating the graphics and effects for a series of short films. His work in this area attracted the attention of the Moving Picture Company and he joined their London-based team in 1994 as a CG animator working in television commercials as well as film and long form broadcast.
In 1998 he and a number of his colleagues left MPC to form Double Negative Visual Effects (Dneg). Franklin set up the new company's 3D department and supervised the CG animation for a number of feature films that the Dneg worked on.
In 2003 Franklin served as Dneg's VFX supervisor on Batman Begins which brought him his first BAFTA nomination. Franklin subsequently supervised Dneg's contribution to The Dark Knight, garnering BAFTA and Oscar nominations. In 2009 director Christopher Nolan invited Franklin to be overall VFX supervisor for his film Inception. Franklin's work on the film earned him an Oscar as well as BAFTA and VES wins. Franklin continued his working relationship with Nolan as VFX supervisor for The Dark Knight Rises.- Originally from Newcastle, England, Paul Kavanagh began working as an Animator for Cell Animation in London. After four years at the company, he moved on to work as Senior Animator for Framestore in London where he remained until joining ILM in 1997.
As an Animation Supervisor at ILM, Kavanagh is responsible for monitoring the work of the animators assigned to his projects. His daily work revolves around creating and developing animation performance as well as developing animation techniques for upcoming movies. Some of his more complex projects have included Mission: Impossible: III, Avatar, and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, for which he received both BAFTA and Academy Award® nominations for Best Visual Effects. Kavanagh is a graduate of Bournemouth University where he earned a Masters Degree in Computer Visualization and Animation. - Visual Effects
- Actor
- Visual Effects
- Producer
- Director
Phil Tippett is the founder and namesake of Tippett Studio. His varied career in visual effects has spanned more than 30 years and includes two Academy Awards; and six nominations, one BAFTA award and four nominations, two Emmys and the advent of modern digital effects in motion pictures.
As a child of seven, Phil was profoundly inspired by Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion classic, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and Willis O'Brien's classic character King Kong. His subsequent devotion to the creation of the fantastic creatures in film has become his raison d'etre. As a kid, and then as a student always drawing, sculpting and making animations, he developed his skills in a broader context first with a Fine Arts degree from University of California at Irvine, then as an animator at the commercial house, Cascade Pictures in Los Angeles. As a young adult Phil sought out teachers and mentors establishing connections and friendships with Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury.
A huge turning point came in 1975 when George Lucas hired Phil and Jon Berg to create a stop motion miniature chess scene for Star Wars: A New Hope. Phil also had a hand in many other aspects of the Star Wars films, including modeling and casting alien heads and limbs for the busy Cantina scene in the first film. By 1978 Phil lead the animation team at Industrial Light and Magic that would launch his career bringing life to the sinister Imperial Walkers and the alien hybrid Tauntaun for The Empire Strikes Back.
In 1982, building upon insights from 'Empire', the same ILM team developed a stop-motion process that they comically christened as 'Go Motion' that produced a startlingly realistic beast for Dragonslayer and won Phil an Academy Award; nomination. And in 1983, as head of the ILM creature shop, he began work on Return of the Jedi, designing Jabba The Hut and the Rancor Pit Monster as well as animating the two legged Walker and later winning the Oscar; for Best Visual Effects.
In 1984 Phil left ILM to create a 10-minute short film, Prehistoric Beast. The newly formed Tippett Studio, then operating out of Phil's garage, drew upon Phil's wealth of experience with stop motion and his expertise in anatomical modeling and rigging. He and Tippett Studio went on to create top-notch stop motion animations for various television and film projects including Dinosaur!, Willow, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and the Robocop trilogy.
In 1991, Steven Spielberg, learning of Phil's expertise in dinosaur movement and behavior, selected him to supervise the dinosaur animation for Jurassic Park. When Phil learned of the choice to go with the computer generated dinosaurs, instead of stop motion, his initial reaction was, "I think I'm extinct!" It was this project that was responsible for Tippett Studio's transition from stop-motion to computer generated animation and for which Phil was awarded his second Oscar®.
Phil's next major challenge came in 1995 when Paul Verhoeven, again with producer Jon Davison, asked Tippett Studio to create the swarms of deadly arachnids for the sci-fi extravaganza, Starship Troopers. Leading a team of 150 computer artists and technicians, earned Phil a sixth Academy Award; nomination in 1997. Starship Troopers firmly planted Tippett Studio (and Phil) into the digital age of filmmaking.
In the following years Phil has been a guide and mentor for the Tippett Studio VFX supervisors and crew as they create monsters, aliens and appealing creatures for the numerous films that wind their way through the Tippett pipeline.
Partnering with associate, writer Ed Neumeier (Starship Troopers and Robocop scribe), the two created the story for Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, which Phil went on to direct in 2004 for Screengems.
Recently, Phil oversaw the design and creation of the wolf pack in Summit Entertainment's New Moon and Eclipse, the second and third film installments based on the Twilight series of novels by Stephanie Meyer.
Phil's roots in stop motion, modeling and practical effects and his ability to use this foundation in conjunction with developing technologies has made him one of a handful of artists whose careers have spanned the transition of visual effects from largely practical to digital. In this way he is a great teacher and mentor to the crew passing on the tradition of mentorship given to him in the early part of his career.- Visual Effects
- Producer
- Special Effects
Richard Edlund was born on 6 December 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. He is a producer, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
- Director
- Additional Crew
Richard R. Hoover is known for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Armageddon (1998).- Visual Effects
Richard Stammers is known for Prometheus (2012), The Martian (2015) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).- Special Effects
- Writer
- Producer
Richard Taylor is known for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), King Kong (2005) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).- Visual Effects
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
Richard Yuricich was born on 23 December 1942. He is a cinematographer, known for Blade Runner (1982), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Actor
Rick Baker was born on 8 December 1950 in Binghamton, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Planet of the Apes (2001), Men in Black (1997) and The Wolfman (2010). He has been married to Silvia Abascal since 8 November 1987. They have two children. He was previously married to Elaine Alexander.- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
- Special Effects
Rob Bottin was born on 1 April 1959 in El Monte, California, USA. He is known for RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990) and Se7en (1995).- Visual Effects
- Music Department
- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Director
Visual effects wizard Robert Campbell Blalack was a co-founder of Industrial Light & Magic, a division of the production company Lucasfilm. His reputation as a leading pioneer in the field of CGI rests on his collaboration with John Dykstra in designing/supervising the ILM VistaVision Photographic Optical Composite and Rotoscope Animation blue screen production pipeline (notably employed to achieve the glowing lightsaber effect) first seen in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). For his contribution, the Panamanian-born shared the 1978 Academy Award, adding to this accolade six years later with a Primetime Emmy for his special effects work on the apocalyptic TV movie The Day After (1983). Earlier, in 1980, Blalack had been in charge of visual effects for Carl Sagan's groundbreaking documentary series Cosmos (1980).
Robert Blalack graduated with a B.A. in English Literature/Theater Arts from Pomona College and subsequently completed film studies at the California Institute of the Arts. By the time Blalack met Dykstra in 1974 he had already produced several experimental short films and headed his own company (Praxis Film Works, headquartered in North Hollywood). Under the Praxis umbrella, he also directed numerous commercials integrating live action with computer generated effects. His later film work included the 'cat vision' optics in Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People (1982), as well as special visual effects for The Last Dragon (1985) and Timestalkers (1987).
Later becoming active as an instructor in multi-media, Blalack gave lectures and attended conferences at universities and film schools in Europe and in Asia. He died from cancer in Paris on February 2 2022, aged 73.- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Robert Legato was born on 6 May 1956 in Ocean Township, New Jersey, USA. He is an assistant director and director, known for Titanic (1997), Apollo 13 (1995) and Hugo (2011).- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Robert Skotak is known for Aliens (1986), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Escape from New York (1981).- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Roger Guyett joined ILM in 1994 to work on the groundbreaking computer animation in Casper. He was a principal member of the team that produced over 40 minutes of 3D character animation, marking the first time in cinematic history that a leading role was played by an entirely synthetic actor.
Guyett continued to climb the ladder with several big-budget films in the '90s. He led the technical direction of key sequences in Dragonheart, where ILM's proprietary facial animation software brought Draco the CG dragon to life. He was the Computer Graphics Supervisor on Twister, overseeing a team of digital artists that created stunning images of one of nature's fiercest weather events. Three years later, Guyett was recognized with a British Academy Award® for his innovative work as co-visual effects supervisor on Saving Private Ryan.
The recognition continued when Guyett earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations and won the Visual Effects Society Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Guyett also earned Oscar, BAFTA, and VES nominations for his work as the Visual Effects Supervisor and Second Unit Director in both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness.
In 2009, Guyett was named to the "Digital 25: Visionaries, Innovators and Producers List," by the Producer's Guild of America, which honors those who have made the most vibrant and exciting contributions to the advancement of digital entertainment and storytelling. Guyett is a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.- Visual Effects
Scott Balkcom is known for Divergent (2014), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).- Visual Effects
Scott Benza joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1997 as an Animator and holds a degree in Commercial Art with a minor in Video Production. Prior to his work at ILM, Scott worked as a Senior Animator for Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.
As an Animation Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, he is responsible for many aspects of the development of CG characters, as well as providing creative and technical direction to animators. Some of his most notable projects have included development work done for crash/destruction simulations for Pearl Harbor and supervising the animation work on all four Transformers films, two of which earned him Academy Award® nominations. He also supervised the animation of the Hulk in the blockbuster Marvel film, The Avengers.- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Animation Department
Scott Farrar is known for Transformers (2007), Minority Report (2002) and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).- Special Effects
- Stunts
- Scott Stokdyk was born on 16 October 1969. He is known for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) and Spider-Man 2 (2004).
- Special Effects
- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
Shane Mahan is known for Iron Man (2008), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) and The Suicide Squad (2021).- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Stan Winston was born on 7 April 1946 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He is known for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and Aliens (1986). He was married to Karen Winston. He died on 15 June 2008 in Malibu, California, USA.- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen Rosenbaum was born in 1965 in Tacoma, Washington, USA. He is an assistant director, known for Avatar (2009), Contact (1997) and Forrest Gump (1994).- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Make-Up Department
- Actor
Tom Woodruff Jr. was born in 1959 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for Starship Troopers (1997), Death Becomes Her (1992) and Alien: Resurrection (1997). He is married to Tami Spitler Woodruff. They have three children.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Known best for the films "127 Hours," "Zombieland Double Tap," "Hocus Pocus," and"Bad Grandpa," as well as his work with Daft Punk, Tony Gardner began his film career working on "Michael Jackson's Thriller" under the auspices of Rick Baker.
His very first independent FX job was an animatronic Half-Corpse for Dan O'Bannon's "The Return of the Living Dead," followed by Chuck Russell's feature film remake of "The Blob." Tony quickly established a reputation for delivering innovative effects work, and was quickly considered one of the most creative and reliable artists in Hollywood and abroad.In 1992, Tony created the disfigured title character for director Sam Raimi's classic film,"Darkman." From there, Tony's career took off. Films as varied as "Hocus Pocus," "Army of Darkness," "Hairspray," and the "Jackass" series followed.
Always once to believe that the on-screen presentation of the effects is equally as important as the design and creation, he has always been directly involved in the filming process on each film or television project, at times storyboarding scenes as well as directing second unit or the effects sequences for the films he's involved with. His collaboration with Daft Punk has led to writing, directing, and co-producing music videos, several of which have been lauded at worldwide festivals.
And his attention to detail and realism has led to investigations launched by the FBI, the LAPD, the Arizona State Police, and Missing Person's Division - all testaments to the quality of his work, albeit in a VERY roundabout way. His realistic attention to detail on Danny Boyle's film "127 Hours" led to screenings being halted and audience members passing out.
His company Alterian, Inc. is located in Los Angeles, California.- Special Effects
- Make-Up Department
- Art Department
Wayne Anderson was born on 5 January 1985 in Naples, Florida, USA. He is known for The Tomorrow War (2021), The Predator (2018) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). He has been married to Brittany Anderson since 11 November 2006.