8111

On the latest episode of 8111 I talk with “Optical God” Jon Alexander! Jon grew up in Ohio. As a young person he loved the Wizard of Oz. He recently retired from ILM after 38 years (and change). During the Vietnam era Jon’s lottery number came up. While serving he learned the value of building good relationships and working across rank and experience. This knowledge and experience helped him be successful in his career in visual effects. Later, Jon attended a few universities wher...

On this episode of 8111 I talk with Craig Barron. Craig is an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor, entrepreneur, and film historian with a groundbreaking career spanning over two decades. He has contributed to visual effects on more than 100 films and served as a founding member of the Visual Effects Society. Barron also spent nine years on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors and was co-chair of the Science & Technology Council. At just 18, Barro...

Erik Jensen grew up in New Jersey. As a young person he loved monster movies. For a time he considered pursuing a career as a veterinarian. But when his friend Chris Walas moved out to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the movie FX business, Erik wasn't too far behind. In Hollywood Erik worked on several low budget horror movies honing his skills and making connections. It was a small community and led to working with Rob Bottin on some projects, including John Carpenter's 1982 remake ...

In this episode of 8111, we talk with John Bell, a New Jersey native who developed a passion for drawing and cars in his youth. To earn money as a kid, he and his brother sold his car drawings at dragster races. This passion led John to the Art Center's Transportation Design program. After graduating, he joined GM's Advanced Concept Studio in Detroit. John's career expanded further when he moved to California to work as a conceptual artist at Atari Games. By the late 1980s, he began a twenty...

On the latest 8111 I catch up with Stephen Rosenbaum!!! Stephen grew up in Los Angeles and always loved building things. As the youngest of three he thought he'd likely follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor. But in 1977 he saw Star Wars and the seed was planted. While attending Berkeley he enrolled in the College of Environmental Design and began working in the nascent field of computer graphics. Stephen decided to stay in Northern California after college and landed a d...