January 22, 2008

San Francisco, Ca. -- Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), and Skywalker Sound, both Lucasfilm Ltd. Companies were nominated for six Academy Awards, it was announced this morning. For the third year in a row ILM pulled in two of the three nomination spots with Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Skywalker Sound also dominated the sound nominations taking three of the five slots in Sound Editing for their work on There Will Be Blood, Transformers and Ratatouille, which also received another nomination in the Sound Mixing category.

Industrial Light & Magic
For ILM the Visual Effects Supervisor for Transformers was Scott Farrar, who was previously nominated three times for his work on The Chronicles of Narnia, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and Backdraft. In 1996, he won the Oscar® for his work on Cocoon. For ILM Animation Supervisor, Scott Benza and Associate Visual Effects Supervisor Russell Earl, the nominations mark their first.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the third film in the Pirates trilogy and has been nominated as many times. ILM's John Knoll and Hal Hickel each took home their first Oscar® last year for the second installment of the Pirates franchise. This is the fifth nomination for Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll and the third for Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel.

"We are thrilled and honored to have our work recognized by the Academy," stated Chrissie England, President of ILM. "The artistic and technical challenges represented in these two films were as great as any we have faced to date. From the onset we knew these projects were going to be complicated, to say the least. But through a lot of hard work and dedication the Transformers and Pirates crews have once again broken new ground in our industry and this acknowledgment from our peers is a true honor."

"At World's End was one of the most challenging films of my career, explained John Knoll, "Realistic water has always been difficult to accomplish in computer graphics due to its inherent complexity. I think our team made great strides in this area, combining artistry and clever problem solving to deliver believable fluid simulations on such a large scale. This coupled with the next generation of digital character performance made for an exciting ride."

"Every year the competition gets more intense which I think is good," commented Scott Farrar, "it forces us to keep raising the bar and I feel Transformers did just that. I'm very proud of what our team achieved on this show and think that it is some of the most photorealistic work we have ever done. You actually believe that 30-foot tall robots exist."

Scott Farrar

Scott Benza

Russell Earl

John Knoll

Hal Hickel

Skywalker Sound
Two time Oscar® winner Randy Thom of Skywalker Sound received his 13th and 14th Oscar® nominations for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing on Ratatouille. Also on Ratatouille, two time Oscar® winner Michael Semanick picked up his 5th nomination for Sound Mixing while Oscar® winner Michael Silvers picked up his 4th nomination for Sound Editing.

"I am very excited that Skywalker Sound has once again been recognized by the Academy for its outstanding work," said Glenn Kiser, Vice President and General Manager of Skywalker Sound. "The diverse and artistic work in the soundtracks for Ratatouille, There Will Be Blood and Transformers is truly inspiring."

"Once again I am proud to be honored by the Academy for Ratatouille," stated Randy Thom, Director of Sound Design for Skywalker Sound. "Working with Brad Bird is always an exciting adventure, and these nominations are just icing on the cake."

For Sound Editing on There Will be Blood Matthew Wood picked up his first nomination as did Christopher Scarabosio. Skywalker alum and two time Oscar® winner Ethan Van der Ryn picked up his 3rd nomination for Sound Editing on Transformers.

Randy Thom

Michael Semanick

Michael Silvers

Matthew Wood

Christopher Scarabosio

Ethan Van der Ryn

Including the two current nominations, ILM has been nominated for 38 Academy Awards® since its founding in 1975 and is the recipient of 15 Oscars® in the visual effects category. Skywalker Sound, is the recipient of 48 nominations and 19 Oscars®.

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