Former ILM artists behind a half-century of unforgettable visual effects celebrate the bonds that last long after the cameras stop rolling.
By Clayton Sandell
A fast-moving bank of low clouds swept over the dozen or so sailboats docked at Travis Marina in Sausalito, California, parting sporadically to offer glimpses of a sunset-colored sky and the massive Golden Gate Bridge towering in the distance.
The evening’s dramatic backdrop was just the type of scene that the crowd of Industrial Light & Magic veterans gathered there might have once conjured up for a movie. (Remember when the Enterprise crew flew a commandeered Klingon Bird-of-Prey under the Golden Gate in 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home? That was ILM.)
On a recent night in August, roughly 120 company alumni, guests, and a few current employees came from points near and far for the Model Shop & Friends Annual Reunion. Former ILM staffers Bill George, Jean Bolte, Nelson Hall, Sean Casey, Michael Lynch, and Michael Murnane made up this year’s planning committee, organizing the event for former colleagues who have known each other for, in many cases, several decades.
“We’ve all been together so long that we are a family. And we support each other that way,” says Marty Brennis, who started at ILM as an electronics engineer on Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). “What a fun group to be part of.”
Throughout the evening, friends, former coworkers, and guests shared incredible stories and memories. They also celebrated the 90th birthday of Giovanni Donovan, a former ILM modelmaker with dozens of credits including Backdraft (1991), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
“We get so much feedback from people saying, ‘Thank you for doing this.’ They just love that we’re doing it, and they love to come together,” says Hall, who brought his own modelmaking skills to many films over the years, including Galaxy Quest (1999), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), and all three Star Wars prequels.
Longtime friends Sean Casey and Bill George teamed up in 2022 to organize the first Model Shop reunion in Novato, California.
“It was Bill’s idea to do this and he asked me to help,” Casey tells ILM.com. “I’ve never done anything like that before. And it was really a lot of planning and work. But everybody came, and we had a great time. Everybody said, ‘You’ve got to do this again.’ Thankfully, we convinced a few other people to get involved.”
The next two reunions – in 2024 and 2025 – were held at a larger venue that allowed for an expanded guest list.
“I’m proud to say we have guests whose work spanned production, the art department, the stage and camera departments, digital matte painting, CG, visual effects supervisors, executive leadership, and more,” says Hall.
Former ILMers come from places like Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Texas, and North Carolina to attend the reunions, Hall says.
Bolte spent 35 years at ILM contributing to films including Willow (1988), Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002), and The Irishman (2019). “I think that as a family, what we learned working together is that we all know how to support each other,” she tells ILM.com. “Nobody is twisting in the wind or forgotten. We all just have each other’s back. And that’s how we are doing this together.”
The reunions are also a chance to remember beloved ILM staffers who are no longer with us. In a poignant moment, former modelmaker Michael Lynch read a message to the group written by his friend Jeff Olson just before he passed away in June. Olson was a 25-year ILM employee with a career that spanned modelmaking to producing visual effects.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of working at ILM with such a gifted group of artists was getting to know your talents and finding the safe and efficient solutions to the challenges we faced,” said Lynch, reading Olson’s words. “I like the pressure, the deadlines, the camaraderie, and cooperation this group employed to meet them. I am so grateful to have been among you.”
Fifty years ago this summer, Lorne Peterson was working in a Van Nuys warehouse on Valjean Avenue near Los Angeles, part of the ILM Model Shop team scrambling to help complete the visual effects for Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) in time. Despite the pressure, he fondly remembers the early traditions that helped form an esprit de corps that lives on in ILM’s global culture today.
“There were wonderful things, like Friday night dances in the Model Shop. We’d clear everything out on the cement floors and invite people over and things like that,” Peterson tells ILM.com. “There was a camaraderie right from the beginning.”
The evening’s festivities included gathering everyone for a photo with the ILM magician logo, much like the traditional crew pictures the group posed for many times in the past. Veteran modelmaker and digital artist Larry Tan says it’s always good to see the old gang. “It was a unique time,” says Tan. “There was such a collective knowledge, and everyone knew how to treat each other to get things done.”
The group plans to keep organizing the reunions as long as people keep wanting to show up. “There’s something really sweet about it,” says Murnane, who worked as a concept designer and sculptor on the Star Wars prequel films. “And everybody really vocalizes that they love it.”
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Clayton Sandell is a Star Wars author and enthusiast, Celebration stage host, and a longtime fan of the creative people who keep Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound on the leading edge of visual effects and sound design. Follow him on Instagram (@claytonsandell), Bluesky (@claytonsandell.com), or X (@Clayton_Sandell).
