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ILM Receives VFX Oscar Noms for War of the Worlds and Narnia

Despite the surprising omission of STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH, Industrial Light & Magic received two of the three nominations in the Best Visual Effects category yesterday for the 78th Annual Academy Awards.

ILM was nominated for its contributions to WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. To date, ILM has received 35 Oscar nominations since its founding in 1975, an industry record for visual effects companies. For its work, ILM has received 13 Academy Awards.

Every nomination is tremendously exciting, but these nominations are all the more rewarding because of the hugely complex nature of these movies, said ILM president Chrissie England. This is our 14th nomination in 10 years, which is a testament to the extraordinary creativity and talent of our artists.

On Feb. 13, ILM will be awarded the National Medal of Technology at a White House ceremony. The award, established by Congress in 1980, will recognize 30 years of innovation in the motion picture industry. It is the first time an entertainment company has received the National Medal of Technology.

ILMs Dennis Muren who with eight Oscars has more Academy Awards than any other living person was among those nominated for WAR OF THE WORLDS, along with Randal M. Dutra and Pablo Helman of ILM. Dutra was previously nominated in 1998 for THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK. Helman received an Oscar nomination in 2003 for his work on STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Murens list of Oscars includes JURASSIC PARK, TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, INNERSPACE AND E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, all for ILM. He was nominated in 1986 for his work on YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES, which contained the first fully digital character in a major live-action movie. Muren, Helman and Dutra share the WAR OF THE WORLDS nomination with Daniel Sudick.

Farrars nomination for THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE is his fourth. He won an Oscar in 1986 for his work on COCOON, and was also nominated in 2002 for A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and in 1992 for BACKDRAFT.

ILM, Skywalker Sound and their parent company, Lucasfilm Ltd., together have contributed to 16 of the top 25 movies of all time, received 40 Oscars and special achievement awards, and been nominated for an additional 63 Academy Awards. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Bill Desowitz's picture

Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.

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