Stefan Dechant

Stefan Dechant started at ILM as an intern in the art department. His career trajectory is a wild one and takes him from ILM to a highly successful career working above the line as a Production Designer.

Stefan talks about working with Rick Carter and how networking and professional relationships have kept him gainfully empolyed on numerous film projects including; Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, Waterworld, Jarhead, Avatar, Kong: Skull Island, Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Tragedy of MacBeth, & Pinocchio (to name just a few). 

Talking with Stefan was a blast. His affable, humble personality and enthusiasm for his work comes through in this fun and informative conversation. 

George Hull, Mark Moore, & Stefan Dechant (eyes closed) in the art department at ILM April 14, 1995. Apparently belts were a must have part of the uniform.

VFX Show 253: Wonder Woman 1984

Mike Seymour, Jason Diamond, & Matt Wallin get gnarly and talk about the like totally awesome tubular visual effects in Wonder Woman 1984. Listen to the radical discussion online at FX Guide. Also check out Mike, Jason, & Matt in the 80’s in the images below.

Ed Kramer

Ed Kramer started his movie and television career using an analog video computer called Scanimate, and later worked as a sequence supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. His film credits include: The Mummy, Galaxy Quest, The Mummy Returns, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Twister, and Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest. Today Ed lives in Colorado where he teaches computer graphics and is working on a feature documentary on the early days of CG entitled, Wizards of Hollywood.

Ed working with Indira Guerrieri on the scarab beetle sequence in The Mummy (1999)

Miles Perkins

Miles Perkins grew up in Berkeley, California. He starting playing the bass in elementary school, later playing in various jazz combos and eventually with his own band, Mingus Amungus. He studied philosophy at UCLA and got a job working nights at Skywalker Sound. After college he began work at ILM in San Rafael and eventually became the Director of Marketing and Communications. When Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney, Miles took on the job of Head of Corporate Communications during the transition. Today Miles works at Epic Games leading business development for the Unreal Engine for use in virtual production. Our chat is dynamic and wide ranging, diving deep into creativity, philosophy, inspiration, motivation, personal connections, and the universal power of narrative. 

Miles hanging out with fellow musicians in the cantina.

Miles with Cuba Gooding Jr. during the press tour for Red Tails.

Playing chess on the Falcon with Artoo.

At the White House with Dennis Muren, George Lucas, Cliff Plummer, & Chrissie England.

With Al Roker at ILM in the 90’s. VFX Supervisor John Berton in the background.

In the hall of ILM’s Presidio location with a couple of troopers.

Miles at the Palace of Fine Arts with Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee.

Patricia Rose Duignan

Patricia Rose Duignan (Rose) worked on the original Star Wars at ILM after having been introduced to George Lucas by John Dykstra back in 1975. She’s had an amazing career helping to bring some incredible projects to fruition. After graduating from Stanford she began a long and illustrious career. Her credits include: Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica (1978), and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. She co-authored the 1996 coffee table book, Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm, has served on the board of directors for the Visual Effects Society (VES), and has spent several years working to create dynamic and robust mentoring programs for young women and people of color to get involved in the visual effects business.

Rose, hard at work on Star Wars. Bruce Nicholson on the left and George Lucas on the right.

Rose posing with George Lucas in the archives. Photo by Terry Costner.