Greg Butler (visual effects supervisor)

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Gregory S. Butler (born August 18, 1971, Suffield, Connecticut) is an Academy Award-winning American visual effects supervisor. He graduated from Suffield High School in 1989 and afterwards entered Hampshire College. Despite his initial plans to study history, a work-study job with the audiovisual equipment in the library made him interested in film production. [1] Butler graduated in 1993 with a major in film, television and theater design. [2] Afterwards he moved to California to work for Industrial Light and Magic for 9 months, where after intern work he managed to become an assistant in the effects department, starting with assistant credits in The Mask and Forrest Gump . Following a job at Rocket Science Games until the company's bankruptcy in 1996, Butler went to Tippett Studio and did effects work in Starship Troopers and My Favorite Martian , rising up to a technical director job, and Cinesite for Practical Magic . While reluctant at the requirement of moving to New Zealand, Butler was convinced by his writer-actor brother to jump at the opportunity of working for Weta Digital in The Lord of the Rings . [3] Among his achievements was working on the creation of Gollum. [4] for which he was awarded a Visual Effects Society Award. [5]

Butler also worked as a computer graphics supervisor on I, Robot before an invitation to work as an effects supervisor for the Moving Picture Company, in London. [6] He later moved to MPC's, Vancouver office. [7] On January 24, 2012, he won a BAFTA [5] and was nominated for an Oscar for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 .

He became a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2012. [8]

In 2020, he received his second BAFTA win [5] and Academy Award nomination, and first win, for Best Visual Effects, for the 2019 film, 1917 , at the 92nd Academy Awards. [9]

After leaving MPC, he spent time working for Method Studios, where he worked as a VFX supervisor on feature, episodic, and advertising projects, including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for Amazon. [10] [11]

In June 2022 he began working for VFX and animation studio DNEG. [5]

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References

  1. ↑ "Alumni Profile: Gregory Butler 89F". Hampshire College . Retrieved February 11, 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ Slater, Martha (December 13, 2001). "Son of Local Man Works On New 'Lord of the Rings' Films". The White River Valley Herald. Randolph, Vermont . Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  3. ↑ Hornblow, Deborah (January 21, 2002). "His Lucky Movie Career". Hartford Courant . Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. ↑ Hall, Lizabeth (December 11, 2013). "He gave life to Gollum" . Hartford Courant . Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Tangcay, Jazz; Chapman, Wilson; Dore, Shalini; Burton, Carson (June 23, 2022). "DNEG Hires Eric Brevig and Greg Butler as Visual Effects Supervisors – Film News in Brief". Variety . Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  6. ↑ May, Tom (May 12, 2014). "Masters of CG: MPC's Greg Butler on getting VFX right". Creative Bloq. Future Publishing Limited . Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  7. ↑ Roy, Kathryn (March 25, 2012). "Suffield native Greg Butler in running for Academy Award for 'Harry Potter' visual effects". The Republican . Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Local Media LLC . Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ Makinen, Julie (June 29, 2012). "Motion picture academy invites 176 new members". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (February 9, 2020). "James Corden And Rebel Wilson Present '1917' With Oscar For Best Visual Effects In Full 'Cats' Attire". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  10. ↑ Sarto, Dan (June 23, 2022). "DNEG Adds Oscar-Winning Talent to VFX Team". Animation World Network . Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  11. ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (September 1, 2022). "'Rings of Power' Used 20 VFX Studios, Nearly 10,000 VFX Shots to Revive Middle-earth (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety .


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