End of an age

Unknown original source - attributed to Variety magazine.

ILM To Sell Physical F/X Unit

Lucasfilm's visual-effects house Industrial Light & Magic is in talks to sell its physical production unit, the part of the company that works with models, miniatures and stage work, Variety reported. The sale would mark the end of an era—beginning as the unit that produced the effects for George Lucas' original Star Wars movies—and cement ILM's status as a digital-effects house.

The purchaser is Mark Anderson, a model maker who has worked at ILM for more than 15 years, the trade paper reported.

The unit will be remonikered Kerner Optical, for its location in ILM's former headquarters on Kerner Avenue in San Rafael, Calif., and will focus on all physical production.

Once spun off, Kerner Optical will pick up the slack by seeking work that ILM would not get. Kerner will become a preferred subcontractor for ILM.

ILM's physical production unit never made the move to Lucasfilm's new headquarters at the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio.

ILM informed its employees of the move on June 13, saying it hoped the deal would be finalized within 60 days, though it has yet to close.

Wow. All the press from ILM during the prequels was that, although they are seen as being largely CG, the prequels were the largest "model shows" that ILM had done ever. (Mind you, CGI has become short hand for "special effect" in movie reviews. Even if the effects are obviously NOT computer generated.)