The International Press Academy will honor the team of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) with one of their highest honors, the Tesla Award, awarded in recognition for visionary achievement in filmmaking technology. Past recipients of the award has included Douglas Trumbull, James Cameron, Jerry Lewis, Stan Winston, Dennis Muren and George Lucas.
For 40 years, ILM has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, ILM continues to break new ground in visual effects.
Founded in 1975 by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, serving the motion picture, commercial production and attraction industries. ILM has created visual effects for over 300 feature films, including:
Star Wars Episodes I – VI
The Harry Potter series
The Indiana Jones series
The Jurassic Park series
The Star Trek series
Pacific Rim
The Avengers
Iron Man 1 & 2
The Transformers films
The Day After Tomorrow
Master and Commander
Pirates of the Caribbean 1 – 4
Terminator 2, 3 and 4
The Hulk Minority Report
Gangs of New York
Pearl Harbor
Avatar
The Abyss
Men In Black and MIB2
Twister
Mission: Impossible
Dragonheart
A.I Artificial Intelligence
Planet of the Apes
The Perfect Storm
Space Cowboys
Galaxy Quest
The Mummy and The Mummy Returns
Saving Private Ryan
Jumanji
Casper
Forrest Gump
The Mask
Death Becomes Her
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
ILM has played a key role in 6 of the top 10 worldwide box office hits of all time and has contributed to twenty-five of the top fifty.
With its many technical and creative innovations, ILM has helped drive the evolution of visual effects. Beginning with a mastery of the traditional arts of blue-screen photography, matte painting and model construction, ILM pioneered the development of motion control cameras, optical compositing and other advances in effects technology. Since the 1980s, ILM has led the way in the use of computer graphics and digital imaging in feature films, developing breakthrough software techniques such as morphing, enveloping and film input scanning.
Today ILM features one the largest and most advanced digital effects system in the entertainment industry, from the earliest creation of wholly computer-generated characters in The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park to the startling digital breakthroughs in films such as Twister, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and The Perfect Storm. ILM’s ability to merge photo-realistic digital images with live-action footage is unmatched in the film industry.
Critical to ILM’s success are its Visual Effects Supervisors, who combine technical expertise with creative vision. They are joined by a core group of 800 employees that includes producers, art directors, computer graphics artists, software engineers, editors, and technicians. This effects team works within ILM’s proven production management system, known for producing superlative results on time and on budget.
Working closely with filmmakers to assure their vision is realized on screen, ILM’s departments handle research and development, concept art, creature design, fully articulated animatics, a mixture of computer graphics effects, models and miniatures, digital matte paintings, and state-of-the-art animation procedures. The artists that staff these departments represent the true brain trust at ILM, and their creativity has driven new technologies into the movie moments that continue to thrill and transport audiences globally.
Industrial Light & Magic – which has studios in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver and London – is a Lucasfilm Ltd. company serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual effects. ILM has been awarded 15 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and received 28 Academy Awards for Scientific and Technical Achievement.
The International Press Academy is a global association of professional entertainment journalists representing a multitude of renowned print, broadcast and digital media outlets. The IPA aspires to continually recognize all artistic achievement whose aim is to entertain, enrich and enlighten, regardless of their chosen platform.
The 19th annual Satellite Awards will be held on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. For tickets, a list of nominees or more information, call the IPA office at (818) 989-1589 or go to www.pressacademy.com.
About Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is a global leader in film, television and digital entertainment production. In addition to its motion picture and television production, the company’s activities include visual effects and audio post-production, cutting-edge digital animation, interactive entertainment software, and the management of the global merchandising activities for its entertainment properties including the legendary Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in northern California.
