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- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Craig Huxley is an Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated musician and soundtrack producer who has been involved in a wide range of entertainment-related projects.
Peter James Kirk on Star Trek TOS Star Trek (1966) (Captain James T. Kirk's nephew) kicked off 50 years of involvement in the Star Trek Universe. From child acting, to composing for the movies, to performing on his Blaster Beam invention. Operation -- Annihilate! (1967) Also seen as Tommy Starnes on And the Children Shall Lead (1968). At the age of 10, he guest starred on two episodes of Bewitched (1964) (more notably on A Strange Little Visitor (1965) as a mischievous young warlock being looked after temporarily by Aunt Samantha). He went on to lead The Craig Hundley Trio, while simultaneously making a name for himself as a concert pianist, performing Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and his own adaptation of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with major symphonies and on network prime-time broadcasts. He composed dozens of his own songs and unique multimedia pieces. He also appeared in an episode of The Brady Bunch (1969) and The Streets of San Francisco (1972) as a musician. His appearance on Kung Fu (1972) began a long friendship with David Carradine, which led to Craig composing the score to Americana (1981), the Cannes winning film directed by Carradine.
Huxley won the NBC Showcase 68 prime time competition show (akin to America's Got Talent (2006)), tying with Sly and the Family Stone. He headlined Madison Square Garden with Deep Purple together with Deep Purple. As a musical phenomenon he appeared around the world as the guest star with Bill Cosby, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, and Jerry Lewis. He guest-starred and was musical director for Pat Boone, Debby Boone, and Trini López. He played piano on Frank Sinatra's hit song "New York, New York", and on the soundtracks for such movies as Dead Poets Society (1989), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Night Shift (1982), Total Recall (1990), White Nights (1985), and Purple Rain (1984).
At the age of18, Huxley took a two-year hiatus, during which time he studied progressive, multi-dimensional philosophy, with a number of important futurists within this field. The shift in perspective gained through these teachings subsequently led to a desire and passion for musical innovation. This resulted in the creation and patenting of several new instruments. The most recognizable of these is the Blaster Beam, featured in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) as the "V'ger sound", and also featured on the score, composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The instrument with its dark and ominous tones has been used in many other fantasy and science fiction movies over the years. Huxley also created much of the special music for the first four Star Trek movies.
Featured in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) with his keyboards, modular synthesizer, and Blaster Beam, Huxley's composition of "Genesis Project" for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) holds the world record for music score to the first entirely CGI film scene. The music was released on Huxley's album of the same name, but never appeared on any Star Trek soundtrack until the 2010 release of an expanded version of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). After this, he began performing most of the synthesizers on a variety of Stevie Wonder albums, and later with Earth Wind & Fire. This era culminated with a half-year project in which Huxley performed most of the keyboard, synth and sound design work on Michael Jackson's "Thriller". His patented Blaster Beam is featured on "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Earth Song". Further notable projects within this time period are the composition and production of the music for the twenty-year and still running Captain EO exhibit at Disneyland, and producer of the hit soundtrack for Arthur C. Clarke's film, 2010 (1984).
In 1984, Huxley founded Enterprise Studios, where he built giant THX Stages, surround-sound mix rooms, and dozens of edit suites. As CEO of his team of 100 pioneers, Enterprise was a cutting-edge, multi-media conglomerate that provided services in audio, video, DVD, interactive, & live productions. Enterprise in 2004 was named the #2 mixing studio in the world for hits by Billboard. Enterprise hosted well-known, distinctive artists. across a panorama of genres. Including Beyoncé, Prince, Slash, Snoop Dogg, Streisand, Stephen Sondheim, Kelly Clarkson, Linda Perry, Quincy Jones, Maurice Jarre, Sir George Martin, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Mariah Carey, Ozzy Osbourne, Placido, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Sir Paul McCartney. 2PAC, & Dr. Dre.
Michael Jackson hit songs, music videos, and special projects often feature Craig soloing and sound designing. From "ET Storybook" to "Beat It" to "Bad" to "The Way you Make Me Feel" to "Captain EO". Including a substantial presence in the #1 selling album of all time, "Thriller".
Huxley continued to produce and create within his own studio, for ten years composing music for Knots Landing (1979) with co-composer Jerrold Immel, and later (for many years) episodes and the title theme song for Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), as well as producing the soundtrack to China Beach (1988) for all four years. Full Sound Services of editorial, Foley, ADR, and sound design for the first five seasons of the Imagine Entertainment television series 24 (2001) was provided by Huxley's Enterprise Studios. He created ambient musical soundscapes for San Francisco Ballet's production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest". He ventured into Broadway, first producing the soundtrack for "Shogun: The Musical" and later creating the synthesizer orchestrations for the Larry Gelbart-Cy Coleman Broadway musical "City of Angels".
Huxley launched SlingShotEntertainment in 1997, producing and releasing the first DVD in history (outside of Japan). He has led SlingShot in multiple firsts. Huxley made the first IMAX film on DVD; the first 3D film on DVD, the first 8 languages on a DVD, the first interactive movie DVD, the first IMAX Multipack and the first wildlife four-packs and exploration four-packs on Blu-ray. He created the comedy hit CD and DVD of perfect-pitch-pooches named Top Dog. To date, he has recorded three albums.
Huxley is the producer of eight films on endangered species and extreme expeditions, released globally. Extreme expedition was first explored in Huxley's GoPlanet series with Explorers: From the Titanic to the Moon (2006) (starring Buzz Aldrin and James Cameron). Huxley produced portions of the score to Baraka (1992). By 2022, he has produced over 40 videos featuring the musical, acting and comedic talents of Fiona Huxley, his daughter, Fiona Huxley.- Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Graf is one of Hollywood's premier second unit directors and stunt coordinators whose 35-year career behind the cameras includes the staging of stunts in over five dozen films while directing second unit action on three dozen features, including such recent films as Todd Phillips' comedy, "Due Date", "The Muppets" (2011, on which he also coordinated stunts) and Phillips' independent feature, "Project X" (2012).
A native of Southern California, Graf first made his mark on the gridiron, where he captained the 1967 San Fernando High School city championship team, winning All-American honors. He won a full athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California, and played offensive guard for John McKay's powerhouse Trojans. Graf started on McKay's legendary, undefeated (12-0) 1972 NCAA National Championship team, and was one of the heroes at the 1973 Rose Bowl, when USC defeated Ohio State 42-17. He next played in the 1973 college all-star game against the NFL's undefeated Miami Dolphins at Chicago's Soldier Field.
Following graduation, Graf became a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams before joining the World Football League's Portland Storm during their inaugural 1974 season. When the league abruptly folded, Graf tackled a career change when he fatefully won a role as former Chicago Bears player Dick Butkus' stunt double in the 1976 Disney film "Gus", a comic opus about a field goal-kicking mule.
Following his debut, Graf worked as a stunt player for several years on a variety of projects, notably Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort", "The Driver" and "The Long Riders", John Carpenter's "They Live", Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", "Raising Arizona", "Action Jackson", "S.W.A.T.", "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "Independence Day" and, most recently, "Captain America: The First Avenger".
He has coordinated stunts on several other projects, including "Punch Drunk Love", "Domestic Disturbance", "Broken Arrow", "Wayne's World", "The Hangover Part II" (the highest-grossing, R-rated comedy of all time), and several of director Hill's actioners, including "Supernova", "Geronimo: An American Legend" and "Wild Bill", on which he also directed the films' 2nd unit. On Hill's 1990 sequel, "Another 48 Hrs.", Graf, as the film's 2nd unit director and stunt coordinator, was the very first stuntman to cannon roll a bus at 60 mph. He subsequently flipped a bus again on the Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner "Nowhere to Run", cannon rolling a 40-foot bus underneath a 60-foot-wide freeway overpass.
The former college football great is also one of Hollywood's best-known football coordinators and 2nd unit directors, designing and staging the gridiron action for such films as Oliver Stone's epic "Any Given Sunday", Howard Deutch's comedy "The Replacements", "The Program", "The Waterboy", "Necessary Roughness", "Man of the House", Gary Fleder's football biopic, "The Express", Cameron Crowe's Oscar®-winning "Jerry Maguire" and Peter Berg's acclaimed football classic "Friday Night Lights". His work on "Friday Night Lights" and "The Express" all earned ESPY Awards.
To further add to Graf's slate of talents, he has also logged several supporting acting roles, including that of Capt. Turner on HBO's "Deadwood" (again working with Walter Hill) along with many other projects such as "L.A. Confidential" (the abusive husband beaten down by Russell Crowe in the film's early moments), "The Replacements", "Magnolia", "Boogie Nights", "The Doors", "Red Heat", "Another 48 Hrs.", "Poltergeist" and "RoboCop", among dozens of others.
Graf penned an original screenplay entitled "Turning the Tide", a football drama which depicts the historic 1970 gridiron contest between McKay's USC Trojans and Bear Bryant's Crimson Tide of Alabama.
Graf most recently reteamed with filmmaker Brian Helgeland on "42" after having served as 2nd unit director on his 2001 adventure film "A Knight's Tale", for whom he designed and directed all the jousting sequences.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
In his 25 year career, David Newman has scored over 100 films, ranging from War of the Roses, Matilda, Bowfinger and Heathers, to the more recent The Spirit, Serenity, and Alvin and the Chipmonks: The Squeakuel. Newman's music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; top-grossing comedies Norbit, Scooby-Doo, Galaxy Quest, The Nutty Professor, The Flinstones, Throw Mama From the Train; and award-winning animated films Ice Age, The Brave Little Toaster and Anastasia. The recipient of top honors from the music and motion picture industries, he holds an Academy Award nomination for his score to the animated feature, Anastasia, and was the first composer to have his piece, 1001 Nights, performed in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's FILMHARMONIC Series, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Newman is also a highly sought-after conductor and appears with leading orchestras throughout the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Score Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, New Japan Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, and the American Symphony. He has led subscription week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and regularly conducts the Hollywood Bowl.
Also an active composer for the concert hall, his works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and at the Ravinia Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival.
Newman has spent considerable time unearthing and restoring film music classics for the concert hall, and headed the Sundance Institute's music preservation program in the late 1980s. During his tenure at Sundance he wrote an original score and conducted the Utah Symphony for the classic silent motion picture, Sunrise, which opened the Sundance Film Festival in 1989. As a tribute to his work in film music preservation, he was elected President of the Film Music Society in 2007, a nonprofit organization formed by entertainment industry professionals to preserve and restore motion picture and television music. Passionate about nurturing the next generation of musicians, Newman services as President of the Board of the American Youth Symphony, a forty-three year-old pre-professional orchestra based in Los Angeles, where he launched the three-year "Jerry Goldsmith Project." In 2007 he wrote the children't melodrama Yoko and the Tooth Fairy for Crossroads School in Santa Monica, CA, and in 2010 he served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival in the Film Scoring Program. When his schedule permits, he visit Los Angeles area high schools to speak about film scoring and mentor young composers.
The son of nine-time Oscar-winning composer, Alfred Newman, David Newman was born in Los Angeles in 1954. He trained in violin and piano from an early age and earned degrees in orchestral conducting and violin from the University of Southern California.- Stunts
- Actor
- Special Effects
George P. Wilbur was born on 6 March 1941 in Kent, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for The Perfect Storm (2000), Escape from New York (1981) and Die Hard (1988). He died on 1 February 2023 in the USA.- Sound Department
- Composer
- Music Department
Alan Howarth's sonic journey began in Cleveland, Ohio, where he engaged in various music-related activities. He played in regional rock bands like "Tree Stumps," "Renaissance Faire," and "The Silk," with notable performances opening for iconic bands such as "The Who" and "Cream." In addition to performing, Alan founded Braino and Pi Corp, and was a key figure in Pi Keyboards and Audio, a pioneering synthesizer and pro audio shop.
His illustrious career took off with his involvement in Hollywood, starting with his work on "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which propelled him into the role of sound designer for the subsequent six Star Trek feature films. His collaboration on "Escape From New York" with director and composer John Carpenter marked the beginning of numerous successful partnerships, including scores for "Halloween 2-6," "Christine," "Big Trouble in Little China," "Prince of Darkness," and "They Live."
Alan's contributions to sound design have been recognized with placement on the Oscar-winning sound effects teams for "The Hunt for Red October" and "Dracula," directed by Francis Ford Coppola. His role as the audio advisor at Magic Leap and Chief Audio Officer at Electronic Arts further solidified his reputation as an industry leader.
At Dimension Audio, Alan played a pivotal role in developing the 48.6 multi-channel sound system, which laid the groundwork for today's immersive theatrical speaker array systems like Dolby Atmos. He continues to push boundaries as a producer, film composer, sound designer, and researcher. Alan is a visionary in the field, creating patents for Natural Frequency Resonance Music wellness sound applications and pioneering immersive spatial music and audio designs for AR and Spatial Computing applications.
Alan Howarth remains at the forefront of sonic innovation, shaping the future of audio experiences with his visionary approach and unparalleled expertise.- Music Department
Tommy Johnson was born on 7 January 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Tommy is known for Eight Legged Freaks (2002), The Island (2005) and Total Recall (1990). Tommy was married to Patricia Lehman. Tommy died on 16 October 2006 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
- Visual Effects
Mark Vargo was born on 15 May 1954 in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. He is a cinematographer, known for Ghostbusters (1984), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Deep Impact (1998). He is married to Betty Vargo.- Special Effects
- Visual Effects
- Stunts
John McLeod is known for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Starship Troopers (1997) and Atlas (2024).- Visual Effects
- Actor
- Art Department
Steve Gawley began his model making career as a student of Industrial Design at the campus of California State University at Long Beach, California. In 1975,while in school,he was recommended for a drafting job at George Lucas' newly formed film company, Industrial Light & Magic. Soon, Gawley became a visual effects model maker at ILM after completing orthographic drawings,of the now famous Star Wars spaceships. His pickup truck was later used to film the infamous Star Wars Deathstar "Trench Battle" sequence. Steve was one of the first 14 ILM employees that were hired by Lucas. ILM eventually grew to over 1000 employees, today enabling it to work on several high profile film projects each year. Gawley stayed with the ILM model shop for 31 years, until it was sold in August 2006.
Gawley helped introduce several state-of-the-art prototype construction methods and techniques that the ILM model shop have employed on many of their projects. While at ILM, Gawley had the privilege of working with some of the most successful film directors in recent motion picture history. Gawley has worked on 18 Academy Award nominated films during his visual effects model making career. It was during his 60+ feature film project tenure there, that he supervised the budgeting,the fabrication of prototype models and miniature sets that were built and photographed for 11 of ILM's 15 Academy Award winning,cutting edge visual effects film projects.- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
- Executive
Craig Barron is an Academy-Award winning visual effects supervisor, entrepreneur, lecturer and film historian. For more than two decades, Barron has been innovating techniques to create cinematic illusions, contributing to the visual effects on more than one hundred films. Barron has served nine years as a member of the Academy Board of Governors, representing the visual effects branch and is a founding member of the Visual Effects Society. As of 2014, he is co-chair of the AMPAS Science & Technology Council.
Barron's career began with the "Star Wars" visual-effects revolution when he joined Industrial Light + Magic in 1979 at age 18 (then the youngest person at ILM), and plunged into matte-effects photography for "The Empire Strikes Back." He worked on such landmark productions as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "ET: The Extra-Terrestrial." He was supervisor of photography of ILM's matte department from 1984 to 1988. In honor of his cinematographic work, he was named associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers in 2002.
In 1988, Barron co-founded Matte World with matte painter Michael Pangrazio and producer Krystyna Demkowicz. The company won an Emmy in 1990 for outstanding visual effects for HBO's "By Dawn's Early Light." Matte World provided matte painting effects, beginning with classic matte-painting and modeling techniques, and later became Matte World Digital to reflect newly available digital tools.
Matte World Digital's work appeared in feature films, television, commercials, electronic games, and IMAX large-format productions. Clients included Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and David Fincher. Feature-film work ranged from the Oscar-nominated effects for "Batman Returns," to "Zodiac," "Hugo," and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," for which Barron won Oscar and BAFTA awards for best visual effects in 2009. After 24 years of service, Matte world Digital closed shop in 2012.
Barron independently directed and co-produced the science-fiction short, "The Utilizer" (based on a short story by Robert Sheckley), and a companion "making of" documentary. Both were broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in 1996. The show won a number of film-festival awards, including best visual effects at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Recognizing the importance of archiving classic visual effects work, Barron co-wrote with Mark Cotta Vaz the first comprehensive book on the history of matte painting, "The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting" (Chronicle Books, 2002). The book won the outstanding book-on-film award from the Theatre Library Association of New York, and the Golden Pen award from the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology.
Barron lectures at AMPAS classic-film presentations, often co-hosting with sound designer, Ben Burtt. Digging up lost artifacts, film outtakes, soundtracks and production photos, the pair present their findings and explain VFX and sound techniques created for such films as "Modern Times," "The Adventures of Robin Hood," and "Forbidden Planet." In 2014, Barron and Burtt co-hosted "Hollywood Takes to the Air," presenting rare footage compiled by Dick Grace, a silent-film stunt flier and daredevil. A rare screening of "Lilac Time" (1928) was shown, featuring Grace's stunt work. Barron and Burtt have presented AMPAS programs on the Turner Classic Movies Network.
Barron worked as a visual effects supervisor at Tippett Studio in 2013, overseeing the creation and development of CGI environments for film, television, and electronic games. As of 2014, he is the creative director of Magnopus, a visual research and development company based in downtown Los Angeles. Magnopus crafts visual storytelling techniques in new ways for retail, educational, industrial and entertainment spaces. The company's name is a consolidation of "Magnum Opus" (Latin for "Great Work").- Art Department
- Producer
- Director
Rob LaDuca was born on 6 November 1956. He is a producer and director, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Poltergeist (1982) and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001).- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Actor
Michael Pangrazio is known for King Kong (2005), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).- Visual Effects
- Director
- Actor
Bruce Nicholson (born 1948) is a visual effects artist who has won 2 Academy Awards for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and also nominated for Poltergeist (1982). Nicholson was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and entered the film business in 1974 after attending film school at UCLA and Sherwood Oaks Film School. He was hired at ILM to work on the original Star Wars (1977) after working at a small optical effects facility, Ray Mercer & Co. He remained at ILM for 19 years, and then went on to work for Sony Imageworks, Digital Domain, Rhythm & Hues, and Tippett Studios as a Compositor and Visual Effects Supervisor on nearly 50 films. He has taught Visual Effects at Academy of Art University, and is actively engaged in independent filmmaking. Nicholson is married to the Set Decorator Gretchen Scharfenberg.- Visual Effects
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Ed Jones is known for The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Howard the Duck (1986).- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Visual Effects
- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Art Department
Peter Stolz is known for Howard the Duck (1986), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Top Gun (1986).- Visual Effects
- Cinematographer
Thomas Rosseter is known for The Mummy Returns (2001), Starship Troopers (1997) and Innerspace (1987).- Stunts
- Actress
Beth Nufer is known for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and The Monster Squad (1987).- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Emil Richards was born on 2 September 1932 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and Star Trek (2009). He died on 13 December 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
Scott Caple is known for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Nimona (2023).- Visual Effects
- Art Department
- Animation Department
Sam Comstock is known for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Top Gun (1986).- Music Department
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Larry Bunker was born on 4 November 1928 in Long Beach, California, USA. He was a producer, known for The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), A Boy and His Dog (1975) and One from the Heart (1981). He was married to Brandyn Bunker. He died on 8 March 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Director
- Visual Effects
Thomas G. Smith was born in Canton, Illinois in 1938. He attended high school in Stockton, California, then entered Northwestern University (1956-1960). "Foster Street" (1959), a slice-of-life look at Chicago, was one of his early student films. While still in college, Smith worked for a Chicago industrial film company, Gilbert Altschul Productions. After graduating from Northwestern University (1960), he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Institute for Higher Studies of Film in Paris (IDHEC). Here he was influenced by several French film greats: Grislan Cloquet (Oscar winning DP of TESS) and J.L. Mundewiller (the lead DP for Gance's three screen "Napoleon" (1927)). When he was called for military service, Smith returned to the U.S. and from 1962 to 1965 served in the U. S. Air Force. In 1965, Smith joined Encyclopedia Britannica Films (EBF), in Chicago. The first academic film he wrote and directed was "Food From The Sun" (1966). This was followed by a succession of educational films where he was usually the writer and always the director. In 1969, he moved to California and joined EBF's talented Hollywood unit. During his 15 years making 16mm films, Smith wrote, produced and directed more than 50 titles. One of Smith's last Britannica films was "The Solar System" (1977) narrated by legendary actor Richard Basehart. The film's 'trick shots' required optical effects, a decade before digital technology. The film won a Hugo at the 1978 Chicago International Film Festival and several other film awards. Its success earned Smith a modest reputation in the growing field of visual effects. In 1979, George Lucas hired Smith to run his visual effects unit, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). This opened the door to feature films. While running ILM he oversaw the visual effects for many successful films in the early 1980's, including: "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" (1981), "E.T." (1982), "Return Of The Jedi" (1983), "Poltergeist" (1982), and two Star Trek films, "The Wrath Of Khan" (1982), "The Search For Spock" (1984). In 1985 Lucas asked him to produce an ABC two-hour movie of the week, "The Ewok Adventure" (1984). The following year Smith produced a second Ewok special for ABC, "Ewoks: Battle Of Endor" (1985). Both films earned Smith Emmy nominations. Soon after, Smith was tapped to be Post Production Supervisor for Disney's Lucas/Coppola production, "Captain EO" (1986). The 3-D film featured superstar Michael Jackson. From here, Smith joined Disney as a film producer. He specialized in films requiring visual effects. His first successful production "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" (1989) won him a British Academy Award (BAFTA). Tom soon became deeply involved in Disney's 3-D theme park films. In 1990, he produced Jim Henson's "MuppetVision 3-D." The same year as the Muppet film, Tom directed a one-hour prime-time ABC film for children called, "Ralph S. Mouse" (1990), starring Ray Walston and Karen Black. For directing he was once again nominated for an Emmy. For the fourth time, he did not win. In 1994, Smith produced the Disney theme park attraction, "Honey, I Shrunk The Audience" (1994). He left Disney in 1995 and continued to work both as a producer and producer of visual effects; four of his films were for the Jim Henson Company. In 2000 he served as an early visual effect consultant on Peter Jackson's 'Lord of The Rings' series. In 2001-2002 he produced the visual effects for Ted Turner's epic Civil War film, "Gods And Generals" (2003) and served as a second unit director. This was Tom's last feature film. He returned to documentary films with his production "Spoon River Anthology" (2008), a 50-minute academic film dealing with the poetry of Edgar Lee Masters and with his WWII documentary - "Casualty Of War" (2016). Smith has written several books, and his best selling is the Ballantine/Del Ray book, "Industrial Light and Magic - the Art of Special Effects." He also wrote "Massacre At Baxter Springs," a Civil War story. Smith lives with Elaine his wife whom he married in 1960. They have three children and five grandchildren. Smith is also a 'Scholar At Large' for Western Illinois University.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Visual Effects
- Cinematographer