Amy Young

This week on 8111, Amy Young!! Amy grew up in Manhattan where her dad was a stage manager on Broadway. She spent a lot of time behind the scenes watching her father work and when he was busy, she was able to go see plays and musicals for free. At sixteen her dad landed a job as the manager of the Curran theatre in San Francisco. Amy’s mom was an emergency room nurse. They moved out to Marin and Amy finished high school at Redwood High in Larkspur. After high school she enrolled at College of Marin in the drama department. There she studied lighting, stagecraft, and theatre stage management. After college Amy was in a bad accident that derailed her goals of heading out of town and she wound up studying further at ACT and working locally through IATSE Local 16. She worked jobs all over town and eventually landed a long term gig on the electric crew at the San Francisco Opera. One day she got a call to head up to grip at ILM when they were working on Always. Brad Jerrell kept Amy gainfully employed for several years at ILM where she worked on many shows including; The Rocketeer (doing pyro), T2, multiple Star Treks, and costumes with Annie Polland on the Star Wars Special Editions. Amy returned to College of Marin where she enrolled in a fire science program and wound up lecturing around the area on fire safety. She worked with the Marin Shakespeare Company, ran the local space museum and solving problems at every turn. Today Amy is mostly retired and does volunteer work at schools, the local science museum, and in her community. It was incredible to talk to Amy and hear her story. 

This week on 8111, Amy Young!! Amy grew up in Manhattan where her dad was a stage manager on Broadway. She spent a lot of time behind the scenes watching her father work and when he was busy, she was able to go see plays and musicals for free. At sixteen her dad landed a job as the manager of the Curran theatre in San Francisco. Amy’s mom was an emergency room nurse.  They moved out to Marin and Amy finished high school at Redwood High in Larkspur. After high school she enrolled at College of Marin in the drama department. There she studied lighting, stagecraft, and theatre stage management. After college Amy was in a bad accident that derailed her goals of heading out of town and she wound up studying further at ACT and working locally through IATSE Local 16.  She worked jobs all over town and eventually landed a long term gig on the electric crew at the San Francisco Opera. One day she got a call to head up to grip at ILM when they were working on Always. Brad Jerrell kept Amy gainfully employed for several years at ILM where she worked on many shows including; The Rocketeer (doing pyro), T2, multiple Star Treks, and costumes with Annie Polland on the Star Wars Special Editions.  Amy returned to College of Marin where she enrolled in a fire science program and wound up lecturing around the area on fire safety. She worked with the Marin Shakespeare Company, ran the local space museum and solving problems at every turn. Today Amy is mostly retired and does volunteer work at schools, the local science museum, and in her community. It was incredible to talk to Amy and hear her story.

This week on 8111, John Berton!! John was born in the midwest. His dad was a mathematics professor and his mother was a musician. John loved movies as a kid and, through his dad, had early access to computers. He learned Fortran in high school and was fascinated by the logic of programming. John attended Denison University and studied communications and even had his own radio program. For grad school he attended Ohio State and studied computer graphics with American artist and computer art pioneer Charles Csuri. His interest in film, music, physics, and programming led him down the path that would eventually lead to working in visual effects. After grad school John went to work with Charles Csuri at his new company, Cranston/Csuri in Ohio. They made some of the first early flying logos for HBO, CBS, Cinemax, and many others. John later went to work at Mental Images in Berlin. From there he made the connection to ILM where he came to work in 1989 on Terminator 2. John’s ILM credits include; T2, Men in Black, Star Trek VI, Hook, Death Becomes Her, Jurassic Park, The Mask, Casper, Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition, Deep Rising, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and Men in Black 2. Since ILM, he has continued to work on films and television creating visual effects in projects including; I, Robot, Charlotte’s Web, Bedtime Stories, Krrish3, Godzilla, 13 Reasons Why, and Deep Water. John taught for a while at Drexel in Philadelphia and left when he had a chance to come work at Lytro developing light-field rendering. Today John is back working in visual effects on a project for Netflix. John was my Visual Effects Supervisor on Deep Rising and The Mummy. Working on John’s teams are some of my favorite memories from my time at ILM. He is absolutely brilliant, and  approaches his work with equal parts technological prowess and thoughtful artistry. It was awesome to reconnect with him and hear his amazing story. 

This week on 8111, John Berton!! John was born in the midwest. His dad was a mathematics professor and his mother was a musician. John loved movies as a kid and, through his dad, had early access to computers. He learned Fortran in high school and was fascinated by the logic of programming. John attended Denison University and studied communications and even had his own radio program. For grad school he attended Ohio State and studied computer graphics with American artist and computer art pioneer Charles Csuri. His interest in film, music, physics, and programming led him down the path that would eventually lead to working in visual effects. After grad school John went to work with Charles Csuri at his new company, Cranston/Csuri in Ohio. They made some of the first early flying logos for HBO, CBS, Cinemax, and many others. John later went to work at Mental Images in Berlin. From there he made the connection to ILM where he came to work in 1989 on Terminator 2. John’s ILM credits include; T2, Men in Black, Star Trek VI, Hook, Death Becomes Her, Jurassic Park, The Mask, Casper, Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition, Deep Rising, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and Men in Black 2. Since ILM, he has continued to work on films and television creating visual effects in projects including; I, Robot, Charlotte’s Web, Bedtime Stories, Krrish3, Godzilla, 13 Reasons Why, and Deep Water. John taught for a while at Drexel in Philadelphia and left when he had a chance to come work at Lytro developing light-field rendering. Today John is back working in visual effects on a project for Netflix. John was my Visual Effects Supervisor on Deep Rising and The Mummy. Working on John’s teams are some of my favorite memories from my time at ILM. He is absolutely brilliant, and  approaches his work with equal parts technological prowess and thoughtful artistry. It was awesome to reconnect with him and hear his amazing story.

John Berton

Scott Leberecht

This week on 8111, Scott Leberecht! Scott grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio the middle of three bothers. His dad was an optician and his mom was an elementary school teacher. Drawing was always something that he was interested in, and good at. He studied industrial design at University of Cincinnati with a goal of may be making toys for Kenner where he'd worked part-time as part of a co-op program. In school he met fellow ILM alum George Hull. And he discovered that ILM model maker Charlie Bailey had also attended his school years earlier. School set the path toward ILM. At 24 Scott became an intern in ILM art department. The internship turned into a job where he would work for the next six years. Scott's credits include films like Flubber, 101 Dalmatians, Spawn, an un-produced Hulk movie, and Sleepy Hollow. With friends at ILM Scott made a few short films including the infamous "Spirit of Spawn" which you can see on YouTube. Scott left ILM and moved to LA where he went to grad school at AFI. He kept working on film projects as an art director to make money. After AFI he made his first feature film, Midnight Son. He was working at Rhythm &amp; Hues when the studio went bankrupt at the same time it won the Oscar for Life of Pi. Scott made the film "Life After Pi" that explored the effects of the commodification of visual effects and how it destroyed many people's livelihoods. Scott wanted to make another film and wound up crafting the film "Spaz" which follows the career ups and downs of ILM's Steve Williams. The film premiered at SXSW 2022 and is in the process of being sold. Today Scott works at Valve in Seattle. It was a total blast chatting with Scott and hearing about his journey and his new film. There's no doubt another film in the near future. 

This week on 8111, Scott Leberecht! Scott grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio the middle of three bothers. His dad was an optician and his mom was an elementary school teacher. Drawing was always something that he was interested in, and good at. He studied industrial design at University of Cincinnati with a goal of may be making toys for Kenner where he'd worked part-time as part of a co-op program. In school he met fellow ILM alum George Hull. And he discovered that ILM model maker Charlie Bailey had also attended his school years earlier. School set the path toward ILM. At 24 Scott became an intern in ILM art department. The internship turned into a job where he would work for the next six years. Scott's credits include films like Flubber, 101 Dalmatians, Spawn, an un-produced Hulk movie, and Sleepy Hollow. With friends at ILM Scott made a few short films including the infamous "Spirit of Spawn" which you can see on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qypKHsobF2Q" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.  Scott left ILM and moved to LA where he went to grad school at AFI. He kept working on film projects as an art director to make money. After AFI he made his first feature film, Midnight Son. He was working at Rhythm &amp; Hues when the studio went bankrupt at the same time it won the Oscar for Life of Pi. Scott made the film "Life After Pi" that explored the effects of the commodification of visual effects and how it destroyed many people's livelihoods.  Scott wanted to make another film and wound up crafting the film "Spaz" which follows the career ups and downs of ILM's Steve Williams. The film premiered at SXSW 2022 and is in the process of being sold.  Today Scott works at Valve in Seattle. It was a total blast chatting with Scott and hearing about his journey and his new film. There's no doubt another film in the near future.

Dawn Martin

This week on 8111, the "not shy" Dawn Martin Mirkin! Dawn grew up in Florida and left for California the second she could after high school. In San Francisco she quickly found a place to live and started working as a hostess at Perry's restaurant on Union Street. She quickly became invaluable instinctively sorting through complicated scenarios with well known guests. A TV production class at the College of Marin connected all the dots and Dawn knew she wanted to work in the field. She got an internship at GGP where she worked on a program called "A Road to the Oscars". This led to an opportunity to work on multiple Olympics at numerous locations around the world. Dawn came to work at ILM in 1994. She worked as both a tech and eventually a supervisor running satellite dailies with clients, editorial work, digital video support, and unending complex problem solving. Dawn has worked in numerous capacities at other facilities including, iBEAM Streaming, Link TV, MediaScape, Idea Asylum/ABC, Sony Picture, Disney's Image Movers Digital, and the Cameron Pace Group as Media Supe on Cirque Du Soleil 3D. Today, Dawn and her husband Craig live in Marin. It was a blast catching up with Dawn and hearing her story. Her self confidence and "can do" attitude make it clear that there's little she couldn't take on and figure out. 

This week on 8111, the "not shy" Dawn Martin Mirkin! Dawn grew up in Florida and left for California the second she could after high school. In San Francisco she quickly found a place to live and started working as a hostess at Perry's restaurant on Union Street. She quickly became invaluable instinctively sorting through complicated scenarios with well known guests.  A TV production class at the College of Marin connected all the dots and Dawn knew she wanted to work in the field. She got an internship at GGP where she worked on a program called "A Road to the Oscars". This led to an opportunity to work on multiple Olympics at numerous locations around the world.  Dawn came to work at ILM in 1994. She worked as both a tech and eventually a supervisor running satellite dailies with clients, editorial work, digital video support, and unending complex problem solving.  Dawn has worked in numerous capacities at other facilities including, iBEAM Streaming, Link TV, MediaScape, Idea Asylum/ABC, Sony Picture, Disney's Image Movers Digital, and the Cameron Pace Group as Media Supe on Cirque Du Soleil 3D.  Today, Dawn and her husband Craig live in Marin. It was a blast catching up with Dawn and hearing her story. Her self confidence and "can do" attitude make it clear that there's little she couldn't take on and figure out.

Dawn Martin Mirkin

This week on 8111, Ellen Pasternack! Ellen grew up in Long Island. As a kid she was an avid reader. She was the youngest person in her town to get a library card. As a young adult she earned a degree in anthropology from SUNY Buffalo in three years time and thought seriously about going to law school. But in 1975, a good friend was traveling to California and Ellen decided join the adventure. In sunny Los Angeles, Ellen quickly landed a job working as a temp secretary at Burbank Studios (now Warner Bros.). She’s worked in the movie business ever since. Ellen went to work in the publicity department reading all the scripts of the films coming out at Columbia. She worked as the assistant to the head of marketing. When Ellen's boss, Elizabeth Landon, made the move from Columbia to Fox, Ellen came along and was promoted to Jr. Publicist. While at Fox she met Sid Ganis who was the publicist for Lucasfilm (which would come in handy a few years down the road). Ellen later moved over to Tri-Star Pictures as a Publicity Manager. But within a year she left Tri-Star to work as a Unit Publicist working directly on productions. She worked on several big projects including; Rainman, Born on the Fourth of July (where she even appears as an extra!), The Doors, Class Action, Joy Luck Club, Mrs. Doubtfire, and several others. She also moved up to the Bay Area during this time. In 1994, new tax incentives started to drive production out of the state. Wanting to stay in the Bay Area, Ellen landed the job at Lucas Digital as the in house head publicist. She worked closely at LDL with Miles Perkins and Nagisa Yamamoto. Ellen would work out of ILM for the next 12 years leaving just before the move to the Presidio. Working freelance she did work for the Visual Effects Society, Pixar’s Renderman, The Orphanage, Tippett Studios, Rainmaker, and Method Studios. Today, Ellen continues to live in Berkeley. For the past several years she’s worked on the awards campaigns for multiple studios and streamers. It was fascinating to hear about Hollywood publicity and the often complex, important work she does for the industry. Ellen is brilliant, thoughtful, kind, and great fun to chat with.

This week on 8111, Ellen Pasternack! Ellen grew up in Long Island. As a kid she was an avid reader. She was the youngest person in her town to get a library card. As a young adult she earned a degree in anthropology from SUNY Buffalo in three years time and thought seriously about going to law school. But in 1975, a good friend was traveling to California and Ellen decided join the adventure. In sunny Los Angeles, Ellen quickly landed a job working as a temp secretary at Burbank Studios (now Warner Bros.). She’s worked in the movie business ever since.  Ellen went to work in the publicity department reading all the scripts of the films coming out at Columbia. She worked as the assistant to the head of marketing. When Ellen's boss, Elizabeth Landon, made the move from Columbia to Fox, Ellen came along and was promoted to Jr. Publicist. While at Fox she met Sid Ganis who was the publicist for Lucasfilm (which would come in handy a few years down the road). Ellen later moved over to Tri-Star Pictures as a Publicity Manager. But within a year she left Tri-Star to work as a Unit Publicist working directly on productions. She worked on several big projects including; Rainman, Born on the Fourth of July (where she even appears as an extra!), The Doors, Class Action, Joy Luck Club, Mrs. Doubtfire, and several others. She also moved up to the Bay Area during this time. In 1994, new tax incentives started to drive production out of the state. Wanting to stay in the Bay Area, Ellen landed the job at Lucas Digital as the in house head publicist. She worked closely at LDL with Miles Perkins and Nagisa Yamamoto. Ellen would work out of ILM for the next 12 years leaving just before the move to the Presidio. Working freelance she did work for the Visual Effects Society, Pixar’s Renderman, The Orphanage, Tippett Studios, Rainmaker, and Method Studios.  Today, Ellen continues to live in Berkeley. For the past several years she’s worked on the awards campaigns for multiple studios and streamers. It was fascinating to hear about Hollywood publicity and the often complex, important work she does for the industry. Ellen is brilliant, thoughtful, kind, and great fun to chat with.

Ellen Pasternack

This week on 8111, Euan Macdonald! Euan grew up near Edinburgh, Scotland the middle brother of three. His father was an architect and also loved cartooning. His mother taught yoga and wrangled the three boys. They had a ZX Spectrum computer in the house growing up and Euan played games and did some rudimentary programming. He worked to help his dad on projects mapping structured space and experimented with making videos from image sequences generated on the computer.In school he was excited to pursue animation and computer graphics. After school Euan went to work in London at a company called Digital Pictures. He also got am opportunity to attend SIGGRAPH 1990 in Dallas as a student volunteer. He continued building his skills and his reel which landed him a full-time job at Industrial Light and Magic as a Technical Director.At ILM Euan worked on numerous films including; In the Mouth of Madness, The Mask, Disclosure, The Lost World, Dragonheart, Episode 1, Harry Potter 3, and several others. Euan's skillset quickly landed him in the role of CG Supervisor. He had a fun experience on Dragonheart where he met fellow Scotsman, Sean Connery. When the film premiered in the UK Euan got to hang out with Connery and introduce his parents to the original 007. After more than a decade at ILM it was time for a change of pace and Euan headed to Vancouver to work at Electronic Arts. The transition to games was exciting and challenging. He continued to build new skills and expanding his roles with each move. Sometime later he returned to Marin to help set up the new studio at Image Movers Digital and worked for a time at The Orphanage. Today Euan works for himself on multiple exciting start ups. His ventures have included developing creative toys, mobile AR applications, games, VR, NFTs, and original content. Euan's drive, enthusiasm, and creativity have kept him always busy with new ideas, new projects, and new opportunities. It was so much fun chatting with Euan about this life and career. 

This week on 8111, Euan Macdonald! Euan grew up near Edinburgh, Scotland the middle brother of three. His father was an architect and also loved cartooning. His mother taught yoga and wrangled the three boys. They had a ZX Spectrum computer in the house growing up and Euan played games and did some rudimentary programming. He worked to help his dad on projects mapping structured space and experimented with making videos from image sequences generated on the computer. In school he was excited to pursue animation and computer graphics. After school Euan went to work in London at a company called Digital Pictures. He also got am opportunity to attend SIGGRAPH 1990 in Dallas as a student volunteer. He continued building his skills and his reel which landed him a full-time job at Industrial Light and Magic as a Technical Director. At ILM Euan worked on numerous films including; In the Mouth of Madness, The Mask, Disclosure, The Lost World, Dragonheart, Episode 1, Harry Potter 3, and several others. Euan's skillset quickly landed him in the role of CG Supervisor. He had a fun experience on Dragonheart where he met fellow Scotsman, Sean Connery. When the film premiered in the UK Euan got to hang out with Connery and introduce his parents to the original 007.  After more than a decade at ILM it was time for a change of pace and Euan headed to Vancouver to work at Electronic Arts. The transition to games was exciting and challenging. He continued to build new skills and expanding his roles with each move. Sometime later he returned to Marin to help set up the new studio at Image Movers Digital and worked for a time at The Orphanage.  Today Euan works for himself on multiple exciting start ups. His ventures have included developing creative toys, mobile AR applications, games, VR, NFTs, and original content. Euan's drive, enthusiasm, and creativity have kept him always busy with new ideas, new projects, and new opportunities. It was so much fun chatting with Euan about this life and career.

Euan Macdonald

Dan Goldman

This week on 8111, Dan Goldman. Dan grew up in Colorado where his mom worked as a teacher and his dad, a physicist. He enjoyed drama as a young person and acted in plays in both jr. high and high school. When it came time to head off to college he chose Brown for a degree in Theatre. Fate intervened his freshman year when he was assigned an academic advisor who was a well known computer science professor from the School of Engineering. By the time his sophomore year rolled around, Dan had transferred to the computer science program at Stanford and decided to pursue drama on the side. In 1992, his sophomore year at Stanford, he landed an internship working in the Computer Graphics division at Industrial Light and Magic. That internship later turned into a full-time job where Dan worked for the next 12 years, eventually as a CG Supervisor. Dan’s credits include; Meteor Man, The Flintstones, Mission Impossible, Men in Black, The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, &amp; Attack of the Clones, among others. Dan then decided to return to grad school for his PhD in computer science and enrolled at University of Washington. He worked part-time at ILM while also working on his dissertation. When school ended he went to work at Adobe Research for the next decade where he helped develop numerous projects including what would become “content-aware fill” in Photoshop. Today Dan works at Google on the team developing the exciting Project Starline. It was a blast to reconnect with Dan and hear his story. Talking with Dan you can’t help but admire his boundless curiosity &amp; enthusiasm for tackling complex problems. His drive and positive outlook are infectious. 

This week on 8111, Dan Goldman. Dan grew up in Colorado where his mom worked as a teacher and his dad, a physicist. He enjoyed drama as a young person and acted in plays in both jr. high and high school. When it came time to head off to college he chose Brown for a degree in Theatre. Fate intervened his freshman year when he was assigned an academic advisor who was a well known computer science professor from the School of Engineering. By the time his sophomore year rolled around, Dan had transferred to the computer science program at Stanford and decided to pursue drama on the side. In 1992, his sophomore year at Stanford, he landed an internship working in the Computer Graphics division at Industrial Light and Magic. That internship later turned into a full-time job where Dan worked for the next 12 years, eventually as a CG Supervisor. Dan’s credits include; Meteor Man, The Flintstones, Mission Impossible, Men in Black, The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, &amp; Attack of the Clones, among others. Dan then decided to return to grad school for his PhD in computer science and enrolled at University of Washington. He worked part-time at ILM while also working on his dissertation. When school ended he went to work at Adobe Research for the next decade where he helped develop numerous projects including what would become “<a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/content-aware-fill.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">content-aware fill</a>” in Photoshop. Today Dan works at Google on the team developing the exciting <a href="https://blog.google/technology/research/project-starline/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Project Starline</a>. It was a blast to reconnect with Dan and hear his story. Talking with Dan you can’t help but admire his boundless curiosity &amp; enthusiasm for tackling complex problems. His drive and positive outlook are infectious.

8111 is back from hiatus this week with Fon Davis! Fon was born in Vietnam. His dad was in the Air Force and in 1975 his family moved to California. As a kid he was always interested in working with his hands and making things. He loved science fiction films and making models. One of his first jobs was at (Colossal) Pictures where he worked with Henry Selick. When Selick left to make Nightmare Before Christmas Fon joined the team at Skellington and stayed on through James and the Giant Peach. While working there he met several people from the ILM model shop including Steve Gawley.  Shortly after Skellington he landed his dream job in the ILM model shop where he would work for the next decade. His credits include; Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest, Pearl Harbor, Star Wars, Terminator, Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, Interstellar, and Guardians of the Galaxy (to name only a few). Today Fon lives in Southern California and works with his team at Fonco Studios. It was a blast to chat with Fon and hear his story. He is, no doubt one of the nicest guys in the business. 

8111 is back from hiatus this week with Fon Davis! Fon was born in Vietnam. His dad was in the Air Force and in 1975 his family moved to California. As a kid he was always interested in working with his hands and making things. He loved science fiction films and making models. One of his first jobs was at (Colossal) Pictures where he worked with Henry Selick. When Selick left to make Nightmare Before Christmas Fon joined the team at Skellington and stayed on through James and the Giant Peach. While working there he met several people from the ILM model shop including Steve Gawley.  Shortly after Skellington he landed his dream job in the ILM model shop where he would work for the next decade. His credits include; Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest, Pearl Harbor, Star Wars, Terminator, Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, Interstellar, and Guardians of the Galaxy (to name only a few). Today Fon lives in Southern California and works with his team at <a href="http://foncostudios.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fonco Studios</a>. It was a blast to chat with Fon and hear his story. He is, no doubt one of the nicest guys in the business.

Fon Davis

This week, just a brief announcement about going on hiatus. I'm undergoing treatment for leukemia and its taken me outta the normal daily world for a while. I plan to be back sometime in early Spring. I've got lots of great interviews lined up for the future. Thanks for all your support and please stay tuned. 

This week, just a brief announcement about going on hiatus. I'm undergoing treatment for leukemia and its taken me outta the normal daily world for a while. I plan to be back sometime in early Spring. I've got lots of great interviews lined up for the future. Thanks for all your support and please stay tuned.

8112

David Dozoretz

This week on 8111 David Dozoretz. David grew up in Arizona. He is the creator of ZAFARI, a children's animated TV show on NBCUniversal/Dreamworks TV and the first TV show rendered exclusively in Epic's Unreal game engine. An ILM and Lucasfilm alum, David also founded Persistence of Vision, a leading feature film pre-visualization company that produced work on films such as Star Wars, JJ Abrams' Star Trek and Mission: Impossible series, X-Men and more..David and I were interns at ILM at the same time. His career has been nothing short of amazing and it was great fun to catch up with him. 

This week on 8111 David Dozoretz. David grew up in Arizona. He is the creator of ZAFARI, a children's animated TV show on NBCUniversal/Dreamworks TV and the first TV show rendered exclusively in Epic's Unreal game engine.  An ILM and Lucasfilm alum, David also founded Persistence of Vision, a leading feature film pre-visualization company that produced work on films such as Star Wars, JJ Abrams' Star Trek and Mission: Impossible series, X-Men and more.. David and I were interns at ILM at the same time. His career has been nothing short of amazing and it was great fun to catch up with him.

Eighty-one eleven is hosted by visual effects artist and VCUarts Professor Matt Wallin, V.E.S. Each episode is a conversation with a guest who worked at George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic during its 40+ year history. Guests discuss their journeys and career paths, and how working at ILM changed them. New episodes every Monday.

This week on 8111, Josh Pines!! Josh grew up in Long Island, NY. His father was a celestial mechanic (aerospace engineer) and his mother worked as a probability and statistics professor at Hofstra. He was the youngest of three with two older sisters. As a kid, he spent weekends going with his parents to Manhattan exploring the museums, attending operas, movies, and music venues. He played classical piano growing up and set his sites on a music degree at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. When that didn't work out, he wound up going to the Cooper Union where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. He played in several bands during college and really enjoyed electronic music. He connected the exploration of electronic music to other elements in engineering (sound waves, time varying signals going through circuits, Fourier analysis, signal processing, etc.) Everything he was interested in related to music suddenly seemed to have a direct connection to image making. After graduation he stuck around campus for a few years teaching film classes. Josh first began working in visual effects at MAGI in 1982 at the tail end of their work on "Tron" and went on to lead the computer graphics division at R/Greenberg Associates in NYC. Later he supervised film effects and film recording at Degraf/Wahrman in Los Angeles. Josh was then hired by ILM where he supervised the film scanning/recording department for more than 10 years, and worked extensively with both traditional and digital cinema technologies. He has received a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has credits on several feature films. Today he lives in the Bay Area and often commutes to LA for work. Josh is still looking for a clown based solution for several problems facing industry. There is no denying his brilliance, his wit, and great sense of humor. I'm forever a fan. It was a super fun chat catching up with Josh and hearing his story. 

This week on 8111, Josh Pines!! Josh grew up in Long Island, NY. His father was a celestial mechanic (aerospace engineer) and his mother worked as a probability and statistics professor at Hofstra. He was the youngest of three with two older sisters.  As a kid, he spent weekends going with his parents to Manhattan exploring the museums, attending operas, movies, and music venues. He played classical piano growing up and set his sites on a music degree at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. When that didn't work out, he wound up going to the Cooper Union where he earned a degree in electrical engineering.  He played in several bands during college and really enjoyed electronic music. He connected the exploration of electronic music to other elements in engineering (sound waves, time varying signals going through circuits, Fourier analysis, signal processing, etc.) Everything he was interested in related to music suddenly seemed to have a direct connection to image making. After graduation he stuck around campus for a few years teaching film classes.  Josh first began working in visual effects at MAGI in 1982 at the tail end of their work on "Tron" and went on to lead the computer graphics division at R/Greenberg Associates in NYC. Later he supervised film effects and film recording at Degraf/Wahrman in Los Angeles.  Josh was then hired by ILM where he supervised the film scanning/recording department for more than 10 years, and worked extensively with both traditional and digital cinema technologies. He has received a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has credits on several feature films. Today he lives in the Bay Area and often commutes to LA for work.  Josh is still looking for a clown based solution for several problems facing industry. There is no denying his brilliance, his wit, and great sense of humor. I'm forever a fan. It was a super fun chat catching up with Josh and hearing his story.

Josh Pines

Frank Gravatt was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began sculpting clay models at a young age and excelled in his craft. Horror movies, both old and new, have always been a fascination of his and Frank started sculpting monsters, and working with makeup to create the faces he saw in the movies. In his early career he began working at various retail chains until he landed a job in maintenance at Industrial Light &amp; Magic. While working at ILM he brought his clay models in to the office for his coworkers to see, and soon landed a job making clay horses for Hallmark. From this point forward Frank went on the path to eventually be hired as a digital effects modeler and supervisor. His first movie was Casper (1995), although uncredited, he used his eye for detail and creativity from sculpting and began learning the trade of digital effects modeling. His first credited movie was Mars Attacks! as a digital modeler. Frank went on to create for movies such as Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, several Harry Potter films, Van Helsing, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and War of the Worlds. He was nominated for a Visual Effects Society (VES) award in 2003 for "Best Character Animation in a Live Action Motion Picture" for his work in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). He was nominated again, and won, a VES award in 2012 for "Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture" for his work in Rango (2011). Frank was again nominated for "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture" in 2014 for his work in Pacific Rim. He has since worked on movies such as The Revenant, Captain America: Civil War, and Transformers: The Last Knight. Today, Frank continues to live in the Bay area with his five amazing kids and fiancée Trudie. It was a blast to reconnect with Frank and hear his incredible story. 

Frank Gravatt was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began sculpting clay models at a young age and excelled in his craft. Horror movies, both old and new, have always been a fascination of his and Frank started sculpting monsters, and working with makeup to create the faces he saw in the movies.  In his early career he began working at various retail chains until he landed a job in maintenance at Industrial Light &amp; Magic. While working at ILM he brought his clay models in to the office for his coworkers to see, and soon landed a job making clay horses for Hallmark. From this point forward Frank went on the path to eventually be hired as a digital effects modeler and supervisor. His first movie was Casper (1995), although uncredited, he used his eye for detail and creativity from sculpting and began learning the trade of digital effects modeling.  His first credited movie was Mars Attacks! as a digital modeler. Frank went on to create for movies such as Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, several Harry Potter films, Van Helsing, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and War of the Worlds.  He was nominated for a Visual Effects Society (VES) award in 2003 for "Best Character Animation in a Live Action Motion Picture" for his work in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). He was nominated again, and won, a VES award in 2012 for "Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture" for his work in Rango (2011). Frank was again nominated for "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture" in 2014 for his work in Pacific Rim.  He has since worked on movies such as The Revenant, Captain America: Civil War, and Transformers: The Last Knight. Today, Frank continues to live in the Bay area with his five amazing kids and fiancée Trudie. It was a blast to reconnect with Frank and hear his incredible story.

Frank Gravatt

Scott Ross

Scott Ross joins me this week to talk candidly about his time at ILM and Lucasfilm and his four decade career in entertainment and technology.  A native of New York City, Scott began his career in Media Studies at Hofstra University where he graduated with a BS in Communication Arts in 1974.   During the 70’s Ross toured with numerous bands such as the Miles Davis group and The Allman Brothers Band. In the 80’s Ross was General Manager of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic. In 1991 Ross was named VP of the LucasArts Entertainment Group, which was comprised of Skywalker Sound, LucasArts Commercial Productions, LucasArts Attractions, Editdroid/Soundroid and ILM. Most recently he was the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Digital Domain, Inc., one of the largest digital production studios in the motion picture and advertising industries.   Scott is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (EMMYS).

Scott Ross joins me this week to talk candidly about his time at ILM and Lucasfilm and his four decade career in entertainment and technology.  A native of New York City, Scott began his career in Media Studies at Hofstra University where he graduated with a BS in Communication Arts in 1974.  During the 70’s Ross toured with numerous bands such as the Miles Davis group and The Allman Brothers Band. In the 80’s Ross was General Manager of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic. In 1991 Ross was named VP of the LucasArts Entertainment Group, which was comprised of Skywalker Sound, LucasArts Commercial Productions, LucasArts Attractions, Editdroid/Soundroid and ILM. Most recently he was the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of <a href="https://www.digitaldomain.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Digital Domain, Inc.</a>, one of the largest digital production studios in the motion picture and advertising industries.  Scott is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (EMMYS).

This week on 8111, Jeff Light! Jeff grew up in Lima, Ohio. His dad was an attorney and his mom kept Jeff and his three sisters mostly out of trouble. He loved theatre and movies as a kid and was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey which he saw the Summer before Jr. High. He bought a Yashika LD6 Super 8 movie camera and began playing with filmmaking and visual effects. He was pre-med at University of Cincinnati for his first year but it just didn’t make his heart sing. He changed schools to Ohio State University where he earned his BFA and MA degrees in Photography &amp; Cinema. He stuck around after his MA and taught animation to students. From there he worked at Cranston Surrey Productions doing motion graphics. Always curious and working to address needs on specific jobs, Jeff began learning programming and digital image processing. Lincoln Hu gave a presentation at SIGGRAPH and Jeff connected with him afterwards and was told to put his resume and materials together for an interview at ILM. He was first hired to work in the Scanning department on Terminator 2 in December of 1990. His background in film and programming were a perfect fit for the time when ILM was in transition from analog to digital. During his years at ILM Jeff taught Unix classes, composited on Hook and Death Becomes Her, technical direction on Jurassic Park, and was later tasked with helping develop and create the motion capture department.  He went on to work at Dreamworks for a number of years and later served as the Chair of Visual Effects at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Today Jeff is back in California working on his own projects and keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry.Jeff is a true renaissance man. His innate curiosity, love of cinema, problem solving skills, and overall enthusiasm make him a great teacher, and a fascinating interview. It was so fun to talk with Jeff about his life and creative passions. http://jefflightmedia.com/

This week on 8111, Jeff Light! Jeff grew up in Lima, Ohio. His dad was an attorney and his mom kept Jeff and his three sisters mostly out of trouble. He loved theatre and movies as a kid and was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey which he saw the Summer before Jr. High. He bought a Yashika LD6 Super 8 movie camera and began playing with filmmaking and visual effects. He was pre-med at University of Cincinnati for his first year but it just didn’t make his heart sing. He changed schools to Ohio State University where he earned his BFA and MA degrees in Photography &amp; Cinema. He stuck around after his MA and taught animation to students. From there he worked at Cranston Surrey Productions doing motion graphics. Always curious and working to address needs on specific jobs, Jeff began learning programming and digital image processing. Lincoln Hu gave a presentation at SIGGRAPH and Jeff connected with him afterwards and was told to put his resume and materials together for an interview at ILM. He was first hired to work in the Scanning department on Terminator 2 in December of 1990. His background in film and programming were a perfect fit for the time when ILM was in transition from analog to digital. During his years at ILM Jeff taught Unix classes, composited on Hook and Death Becomes Her, technical direction on Jurassic Park, and was later tasked with helping develop and create the motion capture department.  He went on to work at Dreamworks for a number of years and later served as the Chair of Visual Effects at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Today Jeff is back in California working on his own projects and keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry.Jeff is a true renaissance man. His innate curiosity, love of cinema, problem solving skills, and overall enthusiasm make him a great teacher, and a fascinating interview. It was so fun to talk with Jeff about his life and creative passions. <a href="http://jefflightmedia.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://jefflightmedia.com/</a>

Jeff Light

This week on 8111, Leah Anton. Leah was born on a dairy farm in Northern Minnesota and moved to the Twin Cities shortly thereafter where she grew up. Her mother worked as a nurse and also took art classes. At the age of five Leah’s mom took her to a life drawing class and it sparked a lifelong love for art and drawing. Throughout middle school and high school Leah was a self described “art kid”.  She experimented with painting on a large scale, doing murals, working with airbrush, and exploring photography. Leah attended Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) as an undergrad and continued honing her skills. While continuing to paint she began to spend more time doing photography. After college Leah moved to New York City, working at Grey Advertising and freelancing at a design studio doing photo assistant work connected to architecture. After a few years in New York, Leah moved back to Minnesota and landed a job working at WCCO on the PaintBox. Her ability to draw was the hook that landed her the gig and she quickly learned the technical parts of the system. From there she started freelancing in post-production houses around the country doing ad work and sports graphics. After a freelance stint in Portland, Leah was on her way to Baja for holiday and stopped to visit friends in San Francisco. She wound up landing an entry level job at ILM doing wire removal on Hook. After about six weeks, the job ended and Leah got a call from a friend at CBS to come work the Olympics in France. When she came back to California she worked for the start-up company 3DO and was later hired back doing painting and composting at ILM where she worked for the next 18 years. Today Leah lives in the Bay Area, continues to write, and working doing photography. It was so much fun talking with Leah and hearing her story. 

This week on 8111, Leah Anton. Leah was born on a dairy farm in Northern Minnesota and moved to the Twin Cities shortly thereafter where she grew up. Her mother worked as a nurse and also took art classes. At the age of five Leah’s mom took her to a life drawing class and it sparked a lifelong love for art and drawing. Throughout middle school and high school Leah was a self described “art kid”.  She experimented with painting on a large scale, doing murals, working with airbrush, and exploring photography. Leah attended Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) as an undergrad and continued honing her skills. While continuing to paint she began to spend more time doing photography. After college Leah moved to New York City, working at Grey Advertising and freelancing at a design studio doing photo assistant work connected to architecture. After a few years in New York, Leah moved back to Minnesota and landed a job working at WCCO on the PaintBox. Her ability to draw was the hook that landed her the gig and she quickly learned the technical parts of the system. From there she started freelancing in post-production houses around the country doing ad work and sports graphics. After a freelance stint in Portland, Leah was on her way to Baja for holiday and stopped to visit friends in San Francisco. She wound up landing an entry level job at ILM doing wire removal on Hook. After about six weeks, the job ended and Leah got a call from a friend at CBS to come work the Olympics in France. When she came back to California she worked for the start-up company 3DO and was later hired back doing painting and composting at ILM where she worked for the next 18 years. Today Leah lives in the Bay Area, continues to write, and working doing photography. It was so much fun talking with Leah and hearing her story.

Leah Anton

This week on 8111, Endla Burrows. Endla (whose first name is Estonian) was born and grew up in the Bronx. Her mother worked as a nurse and her dad worked in multiple jobs in the city including working as an elevator operator in a high rise. Endla loved watching tv as a kid and would often sit with an encyclopedia by her side so she could look up anything that she saw or heard and didn’t understand. Endla’s boundless curiosity and thirst for knowledge served her well in school. She was often able to learn subjects quickly in an autodidactic modality. She attended the University of Pennsylvania where she earned an undergraduate degree in English. During her time at U. Penn, Endla also joined crew and became an avid rower. An injury sidelined her rowing activities and she soon discovered what would become a lifelong passion for rugby. Endla attended film classes at Temple University (while earning an MBA) and loved the process of filmmaking. She made a number of films, including a documentary on women who play rugby. She landed an internship at WHYY and got an opportunity to work on a short film with Director Tamara Jenkins. Endla moved to California and eventually landed a job working at ILM as an assistant to Charlie Clavadetscher. She absorbed everything and quickly made herself invaluable. She eventually became the head of the training department and changed the way ILM onboarded new employees and helped connect the dots across departments and programs within the facility. After about seven years, she moved on working at Digital Domain, the Jim Henson Company, and as a Producer at Mokko Studio in Montreal. She's currently earning her MFA in film and writing her own stories. Endla is amazing. Her curiosity, intelligence, sense of humor, and passion have propelled her career forward at every turn. Through listening and observation her unique insights and empathy helped make ILM a success in those early days of massive growth. It was so much fun to catch up with Endla and hear her amazing story. 

This week on 8111, Endla Burrows. Endla (whose first name is Estonian) was born and grew up in the Bronx. Her mother worked as a nurse and her dad worked in multiple jobs in the city including working as an elevator operator in a high rise. Endla loved watching tv as a kid and would often sit with an encyclopedia by her side so she could look up anything that she saw or heard and didn’t understand.  Endla’s boundless curiosity and thirst for knowledge served her well in school. She was often able to learn subjects quickly in an autodidactic modality. She attended the University of Pennsylvania where she earned an undergraduate degree in English. During her time at U. Penn, Endla also joined crew and became an avid rower. An injury sidelined her rowing activities and she soon discovered what would become a lifelong passion for rugby.  Endla attended film classes at Temple University (while earning an MBA) and loved the process of filmmaking. She made a number of films, including a documentary on women who play rugby. She landed an internship at WHYY and got an opportunity to work on a short film with Director Tamara Jenkins.  Endla moved to California and eventually landed a job working at ILM as an assistant to Charlie Clavadetscher. She absorbed everything and quickly made herself invaluable. She eventually became the head of the training department and changed the way ILM onboarded new employees and helped connect the dots across departments and programs within the facility. After about seven years, she moved on working at Digital Domain, the Jim Henson Company, and as a Producer at Mokko Studio in Montreal. She's currently earning her MFA in film and writing her own stories.  Endla is amazing. Her curiosity, intelligence, sense of humor, and passion have propelled her career forward at every turn. Through listening and observation her unique insights and empathy helped make ILM a success in those early days of massive growth. It was so much fun to catch up with Endla and hear her amazing story.

Endla Burrows

This week on 8111, Daniel Jeannette. Daniel grew up near Normandy. His parents both worked for the Dutch company Philips, where Daniel worked during the Summer to save money to buy a Super 8 camera. As a kid he was always interested in drawing, in part from his love of comics. While at the same time, he had a natural mechanical inclination born from his interest in motorcycles that he would both ride as well maintain. He attended the Gobelins school and studied animation. During his French military service, Daniel worked in the film/video division along with his other duties. Afterwards he got a call from an old school friend to come work doing animation cleanup on a television program. After a long five years working as an apprentice, Daniel finally got a chance to work as a full blown animator in Spain. A motorcycle accident in Paris kept Daniel from returning to Spain and led to an opportunity working for Disney. He then moved to London to work for Spielberg on American Tales until 1994 when he was invited to come work at ILM. Daniel’s credits include; Jumanji, Dragon Heart, Jurassic Park 2, Mighty Joe Young, The Mummy, Van Helsing, Happy Feet, Where the Wild Things Are, and many others. Today, Daniel lives in Los Angeles and works freelance as a VFX Supervisor, Director, Animation Supervisor, and consultant. It was a blast catching up with Daniel and hearing his amazing story. 

This week on 8111, Daniel Jeannette. Daniel grew up near Normandy. His parents both worked for the Dutch company Philips, where Daniel worked during the Summer to save money to buy a Super 8 camera. As a kid he was always interested in drawing, in part from his love of comics. While at the same time, he had a natural mechanical inclination born from his interest in motorcycles that he would both ride as well maintain. He attended the Gobelins school and studied animation. During his French military service, Daniel worked in the film/video division along with his other duties. Afterwards he got a call from an old school friend to come work doing animation cleanup on a television program. After a long five years working as an apprentice, Daniel finally got a chance to work as a full blown animator in Spain. A motorcycle accident in Paris kept Daniel from returning to Spain and led to an opportunity working for Disney. He then moved to London to work for Spielberg on American Tales until 1994 when he was invited to come work at ILM. Daniel’s credits include; Jumanji, Dragon Heart, Jurassic Park 2, Mighty Joe Young, The Mummy, Van Helsing, Happy Feet, Where the Wild Things Are, and many others. Today, Daniel lives in Los Angeles and works freelance as a VFX Supervisor, Director, Animation Supervisor, and consultant. It was a blast catching up with Daniel and hearing his amazing story.

Daniel Jeannette

Corey Rosen

This week on 8111, Corey Rosen. Corey answers the question of “what would an 8111 theme song sound like”. Corey grew up in Rochester, NY. His dad is a children’s dentist and his mom is a teacher. He’s the middle child of three brothers. As a kid he went to sleep away camp in the Catskill mountains where they put on plays. Theatre became a permanent fixture in his life.  Corey gravitated towards filmmaking as a kid, remaking some of his favorite character driven films with friends from the neighborhood. He went on to study Radio, TV &amp; Film at Northwestern University. Corey worked as a producer on a student comedy TV show called “Stinky’s Pub” and there he learned a number of skills. After his sophomore year he worked as an intern at Jim Henson studios and Comedy Central. The following year Corey applied to the LucasArts internship program and was accepted, in part via a shared interest in golf by Lisa Vaughn. He interned in the scanning and optical department in the Summer of 1993. Corey was in a near fatal car accident on interstate 580 and kept working at ILM from his hospital bed. This led to a full time job that lasted for the next 12 years.  Corey and Scott Leberecht created their own short films at ILM including the Sprit of Spawn and the Sprit of Sleepy Hallow. These fun short films led to an opportunity to work as a writer developing original projects for Lucasfilm Animation. He then returned to doing cloth work as a TD and started to feel like it was time to move on.  Post ILM he has worked at The Orphanage, Image Movers Digital, and now at Tippett Studio writing theme park ride films. Corey recently wrote a book called, “Your Story Well Told” in connection with work he’s done on The Moth on NPR. It was great to reconnect with Corey and hear his story.

This week on 8111, <a href="http://coreyrosen.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Corey Rosen</a>. Corey answers the question of “what would an 8111 theme song sound like”. Corey grew up in Rochester, NY. His dad is a children’s dentist and his mom is a teacher. He’s the middle child of three brothers. As a kid he went to sleep away camp in the Catskill mountains where they put on plays. Theatre became a permanent fixture in his life. Corey gravitated towards filmmaking as a kid, remaking some of his favorite character driven films with friends from the neighborhood. He went on to study Radio, TV &amp; Film at Northwestern University. Corey worked as a producer on a student comedy TV show called “Stinky’s Pub” and there he learned a number of skills. After his sophomore year he worked as an intern at Jim Henson studios and Comedy Central. The following year Corey applied to the LucasArts internship program and was accepted, in part via a shared interest in golf by Lisa Vaughn. He interned in the scanning and optical department in the Summer of 1993. Corey was in a near fatal car accident on interstate 580 and kept working at ILM from his hospital bed. This led to a full time job that lasted for the next 12 years. Corey and Scott Leberecht created their own short films at ILM including the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_pqwk-WkBc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sprit of Spawn</a> and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmtkxHEveE" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sprit of Sleepy Hallow</a>. These fun short films led to an opportunity to work as a writer developing original projects for Lucasfilm Animation. He then returned to doing cloth work as a TD and started to feel like it was time to move on. Post ILM he has worked at The Orphanage, Image Movers Digital, and now at Tippett Studio writing theme park ride films. Corey recently wrote a book called, “<a href="https://www.coreyrosen.com/product-page/your-story-well-told" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Your Story Well Told</a>” in connection with work he’s done on <a href="https://themoth.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Moth</a> on NPR. It was great to reconnect with Corey and hear his story.

This week on 8111, the Droid himself, Marty Brenneis! Marty’s nickname, “Droid” comes from the following axiom; An engineer builds one and then you get a droid to build 99 more. Marty grew up in Berkeley attending Berkeley High School. He was part of the student stage crew helping put on full blown productions. He basically grew up in the business with his mom working doing hair and makeup, and his dad working as a still photographer. Marty saw Star Wars at the Coronet theater in 1977 and knew immediately that he’d one day work for Lucasfilm. He went on and earned a two year degree in electronics. His brother John was then working at American Zoetrope and they needed a wiring “droid”. So Marty came in to help, and that gig led to an opportunity to come to ILM wiring blue-screens. It quickly became self-evident that Marty was highly useful in the new growing Northern California studio. Marty’s credits include; Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dragonslayer, ET, Star Trek 2 Batteries Not Included, to name only a few. If you ever worked at ILM on Kerner, you knew who Marty Brenneis was. In many ways, Marty epitomizes so much of the ILM work ethos and culture. He’s a human Swiss Army knife and the ultimate creative problem solver. It was so much fun to chat with Marty and hear his story. 

This week on 8111, the Droid himself, Marty Brenneis! Marty’s nickname, “Droid” comes from the following axiom; An engineer builds one and then you get a droid to build 99 more. Marty grew up in Berkeley attending Berkeley High School. He was part of the student stage crew helping put on full blown productions. He basically grew up in the business with his mom working doing hair and makeup, and his dad working as a still photographer. Marty saw Star Wars at the Coronet theater in 1977 and knew immediately that he’d one day work for Lucasfilm. He went on and earned a two year degree in electronics. His brother John was then working at American Zoetrope and they needed a wiring “droid”. So Marty came in to help, and that gig led to an opportunity to come to ILM wiring blue-screens. It quickly became self-evident that Marty was highly useful in the new growing Northern California studio. Marty’s credits include; Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dragonslayer, ET, Star Trek 2 Batteries Not Included, to name only a few. If you ever worked at ILM on Kerner, you knew who Marty Brenneis was. In many ways, Marty epitomizes so much of the ILM work ethos and culture. He’s a human Swiss Army knife and the ultimate creative problem solver. It was so much fun to chat with Marty and hear his story.

Marty Brenneis

Jeff Mann

Jeff was born in Southern California. As a kid he took apart the family lawn mower to build himself a go-kart. He loved the hotrod culture and grew up in a very “American Graffiti” way. He always liked drawing and started surfing around age fifteen. After high school he worked for about 18 months at Lockheed Aircraft working on C5A Delta planes. In 1968 Jeff packed all his belongings into his VW bus and shipped it all to Hawaii where he spent the next year until he ran out of money. He then sold his VW and flew back home and moved up to the Bay Area to attend art classes at the College of Marin.From there he went to San Francisco State University and studied with the realists like Robert Bechtle. He also did some design for the theatre program and made some short animated films exploring various modes of expression. After graduation with a degree in painting and drawing he then moved up to Sausalito where he started working on boats. He helped restore and old 1910 tug boat and then worked on numerous projects with the crew he met there. He lived on a houseboat for a time and eventually wound up renting a 2000 square foot building on the Napa Street pier. He built it out to have a living quarters, an artist studio, and a boat building shop. His friend got a 1910 Danish cargo ship. For six years Jeff and a crew worked on getting it fully sea worthy with the goal of circumnavigating the globe. They ran all kinds of shake down cruises with the boat and Jeff eventually had accumulated enough time at sea to qualify for a Coast Guard captain’s license. He had a whole career ready to go at sea, but decided that wasn’t what he really wanted to do. In 1981 Lorne Peterson hired Jeff for a three week model building gig. He wound up working at ILM for the next 24 years. Jeff worked in numerous capacities on films like Star Trek 2, Poltergeist, ET, Return of the Jedi, Young Sherlock Holmes, to name just a few. Jeff later became a senior staff member and helped oversee the company’s massive growth and the transition to working digitally. Today Jeff lives in Ojai, California where he maintains a studio practice, showing his work in shows and galleries. It was a great time chatting with Jeff and hearing about his amazing life and career. 

Jeff was born in Southern California. As a kid he took apart the family lawn mower to build himself a go-kart. He loved the hotrod culture and grew up in a very “American Graffiti” way. He always liked drawing and started surfing around age fifteen. After high school he worked for about 18 months at Lockheed Aircraft working on C5A Delta planes. In 1968 Jeff packed all his belongings into his VW bus and shipped it all to Hawaii where he spent the next year until he ran out of money. He then sold his VW and flew back home and moved up to the Bay Area to attend art classes at the College of Marin.From there he went to <a href="http://sfsu.edu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">San Francisco State University</a> and studied with the realists like Robert Bechtle. He also did some design for the theatre program and made some short animated films exploring various modes of expression. After graduation with a degree in painting and drawing he then moved up to Sausalito where he started working on boats. He helped restore and old 1910 tug boat and then worked on numerous projects with the crew he met there. He lived on a houseboat for a time and eventually wound up renting a 2000 square foot building on the Napa Street pier. He built it out to have a living quarters, an artist studio, and a boat building shop. His friend got a 1910 Danish cargo ship. For six years Jeff and a crew worked on getting it fully sea worthy with the goal of circumnavigating the globe. They ran all kinds of shake down cruises with the boat and Jeff eventually had accumulated enough time at sea to qualify for a Coast Guard captain’s license. He had a whole career ready to go at sea, but decided that wasn’t what he really wanted to do. In 1981 Lorne Peterson hired Jeff for a three week model building gig. He wound up working at ILM for the next 24 years. Jeff worked in numerous capacities on films like Star Trek 2, Poltergeist, ET, Return of the Jedi, Young Sherlock Holmes, to name just a few. Jeff later became a senior staff member and helped oversee the company’s massive growth and the transition to working digitally. Today Jeff lives in Ojai, California where he maintains a <a href="https://jeffmannstudio.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">studio</a> practice, showing his work in shows and galleries. It was a great time chatting with Jeff and hearing about his amazing life and career.

8111

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