John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. is an American special effects artist, pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking and recipient of three Academy Awards, among many other awards and prizes. He was one of the original founders of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. He is well known as the special effects lead on the original Star Wars, helping bring the original visuals for lightsabers, space battles between X-wings and TIE fighters, and Force powers to the screen. He also led special effects on many other movies, including Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, Stuart Little, X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy is a 2004 documentary film directed by Kevin Burns and narrated by Robert Clotworthy. It documents the making of the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983), and their impact on popular culture.
Richard Edlund, A.S.C. is a multi-Academy Award-winning US special effects cinematographer.
Jim Rygiel is an American visual effects supervisor. He has worked on major feature films since 1984, including The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and Godzilla. He currently works at FuseFX visual effects studio.
Terry Windell (1956–2018) was an American director of television commercials and long-form television, as well as a background artist and effects animator for feature films. He directed several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise.
Robert Blalack is a mass-media visual artist and producer. One of the founders of Industrial Light & Magic, he received the Visual Effects Academy Award for his work on the original Star Wars. He also received the Visual Effects Emmy for his work on the television motion picture The Day After. He produces and directs USA and international mixed-media TV commercials, location-based theme park rides, and his independent, experimental feature films.
Bruce Nicholson is a special effects artist who received the Special Achievement Academy Award in 1980 for the visual effects of the film The Empire Strikes Back, which he shared with Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren. He won his first competitive Oscar for Raiders of the Lost Ark at the 1981 in the category of Best Visual Effects, where he shared his award with Richard Edlund, Kit West and Joe Johnston. He got one more Oscar nomination, for the 1982 for the film Poltergeist, which lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Al DiSarro was a visual effects artist who was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Visual Effects during the 61st Academy Awards. He was nominated for the film Die Hard. The nomination was shared with Brent Boates, Richard Edlund and Thaine Morris.
John Bruno is an American visual effects artist and filmmaker known for his prolific collaborations with director James Cameron on films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, Avatar, and The Abyss, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Randall William Cook is an American special effects artist most known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He worked on The Brave Little Toaster, and is known for his visuals on film and television.
Harley Jessup is an American production designer and visual effects art director who has been nominated for two visual effects Academy Awards, and won once. Currently working at Pixar Animation Studios, Jessup has served as production designer for Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille, Cars 2, Presto, The Good Dinosaur and Pixar's animated feature, Coco. Before coming to Pixar, Jessup was production designer on Walt Disney Pictures' James and the Giant Peach.
Chuck Gaspar was an American special effects artist who worked on 70 different films and TV shows, such as The Birds, Ghostbusters, Pale Rider and Armageddon.
Brent Boates is an American storyboard and visual effects artist. He was nominated at the 61st Academy Awards in the category Best Visual Effects for his work on the film Die Hard. His nomination was shared with Al DiSarro, Richard Edlund and Thaine Morris.
Mark Vargo is a special effects artist, as well as a cinematographer. He was nominated at the 57th Academy Awards in the category of Best Visual Effects for his work on the film Ghostbusters. He shared his nomination with John Bruno, Richard Edlund and Chuck Gaspar.
Richard R. Hoover is a visual effects artist noted for his work on Armageddon, Superman Returns and Blade Runner 2049.
Mark Stetson is a visual effects artist.
Steve Johnson is an American special effects artist whose career has spanned more than thirty years. His work has appeared in over 200 films, countless television shows, theme parks, commercials, and music videos. Some of his best-known creations include Slimer for Ghostbusters (1984), the alien seductress Sil for Species (1995), Robin Williams's robotics for Bicentennial Man (1999), and Doctor Octopus's arms for Spider-Man 2 (2004).
Neil Joseph Krepela is an American special effects artist and cinematographer.
Michael Wood is an American special effects artist. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Visual Effects for the film Poltergeist.
Thaine Morris is an American special and visual effects artist. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Visual Effects for the film Die Hard.
