Juan-Luis Sanchez

On the latest episode of 8111, Juan Luis Sanchez!! Juan-Luis worked at Industrial Light & Magic from 2001 to 2006. 

Just a few of his film credits include: Wonder Park, Paddington, Gravity (VES Award for Outstanding FX and Simulation), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Babe: Pig in the City.

Juan-Luis was great fun to chat with. He currently lives in Spain and continues to create amazing visuals for movies and television. Download or stream episode 69 to hear all about his professional journey!

Nelson Hall

This week on 8111, Nelson Hall. Nelson is that rare breed…a Marin native. Oh, and his birthday is on Halloween! Growing up he loved watching old movies on TV. He was captivated by the films of Ray Harryhausen and the Wizard of Oz. He always liked drawing and making things including several Rube Goldberg contraptions in his family’s living room.

He attended Sonoma State for a time and studied art. Still searching for a way to get into a creative job, he landed a job at the Printing Factory on Kerner Blvd. just two blocks from ILM. He transferred to San Francisco State (Go Gaters!) and continued his degree in art taking classes at night while working full-time.

Nelson’s speech 101 teacher, Diana Reese, gave him his first break. He’d given a speech on the art of visual effects and his teacher offered to introduce him to her friend, ILM model maker Marc Thorpe. That introduction led to some freelance work that eventually turned into a full-time opportunity.

Nelson has worked on numerous films including; Alive, Fire in the Sky, The Flintstones, Star Trek: Generations, Congo, Daylight, Flubber, Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, AI, Matrix 2 & 3, Attack of the Clones, War of the Worlds, Pirates of the Caribbean, Evan Almighty, The Cove, Pacific Rim, Elysium, and many others.

Nelson tells a great story of his journey from Marin kid to traveling the world working on films, special events, projects for Disney, and even operating R2D2. It was a blast to catch up with Nelson and hear his incredible story!

Pat Sweeney

Pat Sweeney, or is it Mike Sweeney? There's really no way to be sure. Pat grew up in Manhattan Beach, California. He is an identical twin. Pat went with his brothers and sisters to the local catholic school and loved watching old movies on tv growing up. He saw all the Harryhausen films, King Kong, and was a fan of the original Star Trek.

For college Pat knew he wanted to study film. He enrolled with his brother Mike at Loyola Marymount University in their film and tv program. While in school he got a chance to try various roles and even made a few short films.

After college Pat was working at a car rental place to make ends meet when his brother Mike got a job as a production assistant at a fledgling visual effects company in Van Nuys that was working on a little movie called Star Wars. Shortly after that Pat was hired by Rose Duignan to work as a night watchman.

After the Star Wars team moved up to Marin for Empire, Pat came to work as a camera assistant at Apogee on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. From there he went to work for Roger Corman on Battle Beyond the Stars where he worked with a young James Cameron. He worked for several years in Los Angeles and when a call came to come work on ET at ILM in San Rafael he took the leap.

Pat worked at ILM for 25 years shooting elements for major effects sequences in Return of the Jedi, Temple of Doom, The Hunt for Red October, the Pirates films, the Transformers, and so many more. During my time at ILM Pat would often be in the motion control stage in D-building solving problems and shooting elements. He has a great sense of humor and it was always great fun to work with him.

It was so much fun to catch up with him and hear about his incredible career. Why do dinosaurs make bad pets?

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