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!
