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Six-Part Docuseries Debuts Exclusively on Disney+ July 27

Disney+ released the trailer and key art for Lucasfilm and Imagine Documentaries’ “Light & Magic,” an immersive series that chronicles the untold history of world-renDisney+ released the trailer and key art for Lucasfilm and Imagine Documentaries’ “Light & Magic,” an immersive series that chronicles the untold history of world-renowned Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the special visual effects, animation and virtual production division of Lucasfilm.

Granted unparalleled access, Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan takes viewers on an adventure behind the curtain of Industrial Light & Magic. Learn about the pioneers of modern filmmaking as we go on a journey to bring George Lucas’ vision to life. These filmmakers would then go on to inspire the entire industry of visual effects.  

The series is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and the executive producers are Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Justin Wilkes, Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy and Michelle Rejwan. 

All six episodes of “Light & Magic” premiere on July 27, exclusively on Disney+.

Twitter: @DisneyPlus; @ILMVFX
Instagram: @DisneyPlus; @ILMVFX
Facebook: @DisneyPlus; @ILMVFX
TikTok: @DisneyPlus
Hashtag: #DisneyPlus

ABOUT DISNEY+

Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, along with The Simpsons and much more. In select international markets, it also includes the new general entertainment content brand, Star. The flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, Disney+ is part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution segment. The service offers commercial-free streaming alongside an ever-growing collection of exclusive originals, including feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content. With unprecedented access to Disney’s long history of incredible film and television entertainment, Disney+ is also the exclusive streaming home for the newest releases from The Walt Disney Studios. Disney+ is available as a standalone streaming service or as part of The Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. For more, visit disneyplus.com, or find the Disney+ app on most mobile and connected TV devices.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Disney+ Media Relations
Shelby Cotten
Shelby.b.cotten@disney.com

Walt Disney Studios Global Publicity
Global Publicity (NY)
Derek Del Rossi        
derek.del.rossi@disney.com

Lucasfilm Publicity
Ian Kintzle 
ikintzle@ilm.com

San Francisco and Vancouver–Production is underway in Vancouver on the ambitious upcoming
Disney+ Original series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, based on Rick Riordan’s best-selling
novels, on a newly built state of the art Stage Craft LED stage, the first of its kind in Canada. The
stage was built through a partnership with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and 20th  Television
which is producing the eagerly anticipated Disney Branded Television series for Disney+.

Explained by executive producer and author Rick Riordan, “The story of Percy Jackson has
such an epic scope, I was crossing my fingers we would be able to partner with Industrial Light
& Magic. “That was really the only way to do the adaptation justice and bring our visions to life.
I am over the moon that we have forged such a great relationship to give this show such a
cutting-edge look and feel. I’m sure the Olympian gods would expect nothing less!”
 
“The 20th Television team and the series producers clearly saw the value that ILM StageCraft
brings to a production and understood it to be a perfect fit for a series like Percy,” said Chris
Bannister, executive producer, ILM StageCraft. Jeff White, creative director for ILM’s Vancouver
studio, added, “With ILM’s StageCraft technology we allow filmmakers to design, light, and
shoot the digital world as they would in the practical world all integrated in front of the cast and
crew on stage. It opens up an amazing range of possibilities right before their eyes.”
 
“Working with the team at ILM has been a dream,” said 20th executive vice president of
Production Nissa Diederich. “The fans of this franchise have high expectations for the series
and we knew that we needed the most advanced production technology available, and who
better to partner with than Industrial Light & Magic? The stage we have built will be home
to Percy and potentially dozens more of our most ambitious series. It really says to our creators,
the sky’s the limit – if you can dream it, we can shoot it.”
 
Based on Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan,
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod,
Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god
Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover and
Annabeth, Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to
Olympus. 
 
The series will star Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood
and Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase. Previously announced guest stars include Virginia

Kull as Sally Jackson, Glynn Turnman as Chiron aka Mr. Brunner, Jason Mantzoukas as
Dionysus aka Mr. D, Tim Sharp as Gab Ugliano and Megan Mullaly as Alecto aka Mrs. Dodds. 
 
Riordan and Jon Steinberg serve as writers of the pilot, and James Bobin directs. Steinberg
oversees the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. Steinberg and Shotz also serve as
executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-
Breen, Jim Rowe, Anders Engström, Jet Wilkinson and The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-
Vein, Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg.

Join employees across Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm, ILMxLAB, and Skywalker Sound as they share stories on discovering their passions, beginning their careers, and the challenges and satisfactions of working in their current roles and departments. We hope their personal stories and recommendations inspire the next generation of young artists to break into and make their impact on the entertainment industry.

To learn more about Get in the Door, visit GetInTheDoorProject.com and watch the trailer below.

Visual effects and virtual production pioneer Industrial Light & Magic today announced plans to expand its StageCraft LED virtual production services to Vancouver, British Columbia. The stage, at over 20,000 square feet, is expected to house one of the largest StageCraft LED volumes in North America. This will be ILM’s fifth permanent volume, supporting the growing demand for its state-of-the-art StageCraft services and facilities around the globe. In addition to Vancouver, ILM runs three stages in Los Angeles as well as one at Pinewood Studios in London. 

“Vancouver is a fantastic production hub where we’ve received a lot of interest from our clients who want a StageCraft volume in British Columbia. It was a natural next step for our expansion,” noted Janet Lewin, SVP, and General Manager of ILM adding, “Our existing Vancouver visual effects studio is perfectly positioned to support virtual production and the new stage.”

A behind the scenes image from season 2 of The Mandalorian
A behind the scenes image from the ILM StageCraft LED Volume from season 2 of The Mandalorian.

“Our Canadian artists have contributed to digital set construction as well as Virtual Art Department work on a number of StageCraft projects so it’s really exciting that we will soon have a volume in our own backyard,” said Spencer Kent, Executive in Charge of ILM’s Vancouver studio. “I’m also proud that we are actively recruiting with an eye towards hiring people from underrepresented communities who we can train in the field of virtual production, strengthening our commitment to diversifying our industry. This effort will be bolstered when we launch our upcoming Jedi Training Academy in January.” 

ILM won two Emmy Awards for their innovative real-time Visual Effects work for the first two seasons of Lucasfilm’s hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. They are currently in production on three episodic series and a feature film on their existing StageCraft volumes, in addition to daily bookings for smaller productions including commercials, music videos, and product marketing pieces.

ILM also builds bespoke StageCraft volumes for projects with unique requirements such as George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky and Taika Waititi’s upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, which were built on stages in London and Sydney respectively. In addition, Disney Television Studios and ILM announced recently the opening of an additional StageCraft LED volume on the Disney lot in Burbank, built for episodic television production.

“We have seen explosive demand for StageCraft over the last few years since unveiling our real-time virtual production services in 2018, our creative and technical teams have really led our developments to design the most robust virtual production tools and techniques in the industry,” explains Rob Bredow, SVP and Chief Creative Officer of ILM. “Productions can leverage our proprietary Helios cinema engine or Unreal Engine within our StageCraft toolset and have the flexibility to create photoreal content with real-time flexibility for a wide range of shows.” 

Carrie Underwood on the ILM StageCraft Volume at Manhattan Beach Studios during the filming of NBC Sports 2021/22 Sunday Night Football opening.

ILM intends for the Vancouver StageCraft volume to be operational in the spring of 2022. The company is actively recruiting for numerous virtual production roles including talent specializing in Virtual Art Department, digital environments, technical operations, and other real-time visual effects positions leveraging the StageCraft toolset.

To see our current job openings click over to www.ilm.com/careers

The Hollywood Professional Association announced the nominees for its annual HPA Awards for post-production, an honor that promotes outstanding creative artistry, and recognizes the achievement of talent, innovation, and engineering excellence. ILM is thrilled to have contributed to three shows nominated in the Outstanding Visual Effects category this year. Nominees include Richard Bluff, Hal Hickel, Jeff Capogreco, Abbigail Keller, and Joe Bauer for The Mandalorian – “Chapter 9: The Marshal”, David Seager, Alexandra Greene, George Kuruvilla, Dan Mayer, and Dan DeLeeuw for Loki – “Journey Into Mystery”, and Chad Wiebe for his work on Jungle Cruise.

“It is an absolute honour to have been nominated for our work,” said Alexandra Greene, Visual Effects Producer at ILM. “It’s hard to put into words the gratitude I have for all the ILM artists and production crews who poured their heart and souls into bringing the “Void” to life on Loki, along with all of the larger-than-life creatures that reside there. Every day I find myself amazed by both the innovation and creativity that comes from our teams here at ILM, including the work by our fellow ILM nominees for The Mandalorian, and Jungle Cruise. Congratulations are in order!”

Janet Lewin, ILM’s General Manager and Senior Vice President notes, “I could not be more proud of the nominees and their teams that worked on these incredible shows,” adding, “I’m continually in awe of our team’s technical ingenuity, imagination, and relentless spirit, and I’m so pleased to see their hard work recognized by the HPA.”

The annual HPA Awards are returning as an in-person event this year, presented at a live gala on Thursday, November 18th at the historic Hollywood Legion Theater. Tickets are on sale now.

Industrial Light & Magic announced today that Rob Coleman has rejoined the company as a Key Creative for Feature Animation at ILM’s Sydney studio, building on thirty-five years of craftsmanship, innovation, and leadership in visual effects and animation. ILM is also announcing the return of Randal Shore, who will be rejoining the company’s Vancouver studio as an Executive Producer in Feature Animation.

Both Coleman and Shore are joining at a crucial chapter of innovation at Industrial Light & Magic, overseen by Janet Lewin, who now helms ILM as both Senior Vice President and General Manager, alongside Rob Bredow, ILM’s Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer. With the recent expansion of ILM’s virtual production and StageCraft technology, as well as the accelerated growth of the company’s studios around the world, they could not be arriving at a better time. 

Award-winning Animation Supervisor Rob Coleman joins ILM’s Sydney.

“Rob Coleman has a long history at Industrial Light & Magic, having worked alongside George Lucas on the prequel trilogy, and Dave Filoni on The Clone Wars,” said Bredow. “With a 35-year tenure in the industry, he is a terrific mentor and powerhouse animation supervisor, with endless enthusiasm for the craft. In his new role, he will continue to deliver the unparalleled creativity that has continued to define him as a leader. Rob’s many years of creative supervision in animation make him the ideal fit for our upcoming projects, rejoining us at the perfect time as we work on multiple animated features in addition to a large number of visual effects shows. I’m so happy Rob is back – he typifies the best of what we do here at ILM.”

Coleman has had a long and celebrated history at ILM as an Animation Supervisor before focusing on work within Lucasfilm Animation. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for his work on Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace and received two BAFTA Awards for his work on Men In Black and The Phantom Menace. Prior to this, Coleman worked as an Animator on projects such as The Mask, The Indian in the Cupboard, and Dragonheart to name a few. He moved to Lucasfilm Animation in 2005 providing development leadership on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Most recently, he worked as an Animation Director at Dr. D. Studios on Happy Feet Two, and as Head of Animation at Animal Logic, supporting The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, and Peter Rabbit.

“I could not be more excited or humbled to be back at ILM,” said Coleman. “In my time in animation, I’ve been lucky enough to work on some truly industry-defining films, but the pipeline of projects that ILM has ahead of it is exhilarating, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”

Executive Producer Randal Shore rejoins ILM’s Vancouver studio.

During his tenure at Industrial Light & Magic, Randal Shore was the Executive in Charge of ILM’s Vancouver studio, playing an instrumental role in both launching the studio and managing its growth over the years, as well as providing executive leadership on No Time to Die, Jungle Cruise, Black Widow, and The Mandalorian. Prior to joining ILM, Shore held high-level positions at two other Canadian visual effects houses: The Moving Picture Company (MPC) and Prime Focus. At MPC, Randal was Head of Production overseeing films such as Life of Pi, which was awarded the Oscar for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Effects in 2013. During his tenure at Prime Focus as Executive Producer, he oversaw the company’s expansion from 45 artists to over 150, and worked on such films as Tree of Life and Tron Legacy. 

“Every project Randal oversees benefits from his collaborative stewardship, and we’re thrilled that his journey has brought him back home to ILM,” said Janet Lewin, ILM’s SVP and GM. “Randal’s wide breadth of executive leadership and animation experience make him the perfect person to step into this new role. He will be developing and growing our Feature Animation strategy while partnering with our clients to guide their projects through to completion.”

Most recently, Shore was Head of Production for Tangent Animation where he oversaw the upcoming Maya and the Three for Netflix, bringing him back to his creative roots of producing animation. With Coleman’s and Shore’s return to ILM, they will both play a key role in the company’s continued push into animation.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be back at Industrial Light & Magic,” said Shore. “We have some incredible feature animation projects in production, and I’m looking forward to both expanding our portfolio, and leveraging our best-in-class global studios.”

In a new video released by ILM on our YouTube channel, join Visual Effects Supervisor, Richard Bluff, as he shares a peek behind the curtain of the effects of The Mandalorian: Season 2, winner of 7 Emmy® Awards including Special Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Cinematography, Prosthetic Makeup, Stunt Coordination, Stunt Performance, and Music Composition.

For its sophomore outing, Lucasfilm’s hit Disney+ series built upon the groundbreaking technical and artistic achievements accomplished during season one, combining traditional methodologies, with ever-advancing new technologies. The team also increased the physical size of the ILM StageCraft™ LED Volume which would again be used for over half of all scenes. This season also marked the debut of ILM’s state-of-the-art real-time cinema render engine called, Helios. The high-resolution, high-fidelity engine was used for all final pixel rendering displayed on the LED screens and offers unmatched performance for the types of complex scenes prevalent in today’s episodic and feature film production.

Practical creature effects have been a vital part of the aesthetic and charm of the Star Wars universe since 1977, and for season two, the effects team realized over 100 puppeteered creatures, droids, and animatronic masks, which included the beloved Tatooine Bantha, realized as a ten-foot-high puppeteered rideable creature. 

Practical miniatures and motion control photography were used once again for scale model ships, as well as miniature set extensions built for use in ILM’s StageCraft LED volume. Stop-motion animation was also utilized for the Scrap Walker at the Karthon Chop Fields. The greater Krayt dragon on Tatooine was realized as a six-hundred-foot computer-generated creature that would swim shark-like through the sand environment by way of a liquefaction effect, wherein the sand would behave like water. 

We would like to acknowledge the care and dedication that the team here at ILM put into the show, along with our partners at Legacy Effects, Hybride, Image Engine, Important Looking Pirates, Ghost VFX, Lola, Stereo D, Tippett Studios, Base FX, Raynault, Virtuous, and Yannix. 

We hope you enjoy this look inside The Mandalorian: Season 2.

The Jedi Academy is a unified, global, 12-week junior talent paid internship and trainee program at Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and ILMxLAB created for students and graduates. The program is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to learn in a dynamic and creative production environment, focused on developing the next generation of diverse talent across art, public relations, and technology. 

After playing Vader Immortal, I knew that I wanted to help make those kinds of games and tell those kinds of stories,” said Gary Walker, intern at ILMxLAB. “So if you want to do something, go for it. Ask how you can get there because there are people willing to help you if you’re willing to go out and you’re willing to do it.”

Jedi Academy interns are able to gain valuable, real-world experience through hands-on training and mentorship across day-to-day production work. Trainees also gain valuable skills through intensive classes and immersive learning modules taught by industry experts from a variety of disciplines. The trainees are exposed to fundamental artistic concepts as well as key business skills that support their transition into the industry. 

“Coming into this I was very interested in a lot of things; VR, animation, video production, film production,” said Jared Tan, Video Production Intern at Lucasfilm. “And now coming out of the internship, I know what skills I need to polish so hopefully one day I can come back here to work and help this ecosystem of filmmakers and creative people at this amazing company.”

Lucasfilm is committed to improving the diversity of our studios, and programs like our Jedi Academy help us provide opportunities to a broad range of applicants at the start of their careers. The experience is perhaps best described by Alexandria Frank, Studio Talent Group Intern at Lucasfilm, “Just the sheer intention and passion that comes with everyone working here, it radiates through everything.”

The most recent Jedi Academy interns for ILM focused on virtual production and the company’s StageCraft technology, an ever-growing part of the company’s business. The company is preparing to launch another Jedi Academy focused on the San Francisco and Vancouver studios soon.

Would you like to Join the Force? Keep your eyes peeled on our Careers page for when we announce our next Jedi Academy.