Boss Film Studios

Boss Film Studios
Industry	Visual effects, CGI animation
Founded	1983
Defunct	1997
Headquarters	Marina del Rey, California, United States
Key people	Richard Edlund

Boss Film Studios was a prominent American visual effects company, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his departure from Industrial Light and Magic, producing visual effects for over thirty films from 1983 to 1997.^[1] Before that period Edlund had worked at ILM on films like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the original Star Wars trilogy (1977-1983).

History

Boss Film Studios (originally Boss Film Corporation) initially undertook two projects, Ghostbusters (1984) and 2010, simultaneously. In an effort to set up the new venture quickly, Edlund acquired Douglas Trumbull's Entertainment Effects Group, taking over their Marina Del Rey facility.

Competition with ILM

Boss Film soon established itself as one of ILM's competitors as it contributed to such projects as Die Hard, Poltergeist II, and Big Trouble in Little China.

Edlund and his team chose to compete with ILM technically, continuing EEG's preference for using 65mm film for the creation of their optical effects work. This provided potentially cleaner effects than ILM's VistaVision format due to its much larger negative area.

Boss Game Studios

Boss Film branched out into video game production in 1994 through sister company Boss Game Studios. Boss Film also operated a commercial production company producing many television spots for companies including Budweiser, Dodge, United Airlines, and DHL.

Closure

Boss Film announced it was closing its doors on August 26, 1997, citing the difficulties of sustaining an independent effects house within the competitive environment at the time.^[2]

Awards

Nominated for the 1993 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Alien 3. The named nominees were Richard Edlund, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., and George Gibbs.
Nominated for the 1989 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Die Hard. The named nominees were Richard Edlund, Al Di Sarro, Brent Boates, and Thaine Morris.
Nominated for the 1987 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Poltergeist II. The named nominees were Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Garry Waller, and Bill Neil.
Boss Film was awarded a Scientific and Engineering Award from the AMPAS in 1987 for the design and development of a Zoom Aerial (ZAP) 65mm Optical Printer. The winners were Richard Edlund, Gene Whiteman, David Grafton, Mark West, Jerry Jeffress, and Robert Wilcox.
Nominated for the 1985 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for both 2010 (Richard Edlund, Neil Krepela, George Jenson, and Mark Stetson) and Ghostbusters (Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Mark Vargo, and Chuck Gaspar).

Notable Boss Film alumni

Brent Boates
John Bruno
Christian Colquhoun
Randall William Cook
Richard Edlund
Evan Jacobs
Greg Jein
Steve Johnson
Patrick McClung
Bill Neil
Jim Rygiel^[3]
Screaming Mad George
Stephen Stanton
Mark Stetson^[4]
David K. Stewart
Garry Waller
Terry Windell
Bruce MacRae

Facility location

13335 Maxella Avenue, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

Filmography

1984

Ghostbusters (credited as Effects Entertainment Group)
2010 (credited as Effects Entertainment Group)

1985

Fright Night

1986

Big Trouble in Little China
Poltergeist II: The Other Side
Solarbabies
Legal Eagles
The Boy Who Could Fly

1987

Masters of the Universe
The Monster Squad
Date with an Angel
Leonard Part 6

1988

Switching Channels
Die Hard
Vibes
Twins
Big Top Pee-wee

1989

Tales from the Crypt series opening

1990

The Hunt for Red October
Ghost
Solar Crisis

1992

Alien 3
Batman Returns
Far and Away

1993

Cliffhanger
Last Action Hero
Journey to Technopia

1994

True Lies
Drop Zone
The Scout
The Specialist
Demon Knight

1995

Outbreak
Species
Waterworld
Heat
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

1996

Multiplicity

1997

Turbulence
Air Force One (film)
Starship Troopers

1998

Desperate Measures

References

↑ "John A. Bonner Medal | 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards". 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20070625173447/http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/scitech/bonner.html. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
↑ Vaziri, Todd (September 2007). "Boss Calls It Quits: The Industry Reacts". http://www.vfxhq.com/spotlight97/9709b.html.
↑ Kaufman, Debra (21 October 2004). "Jim Rygiel - Global Creativity". http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail233.html.
↑ Kaufman, Debra (3 April 2006). "Mark Stetson on Making Superman Fly (And Other Neat Tricks)". https://www.studiodaily.com/2006/04/mark-stetson-on-making-superman-fly-and-other-neat-tricks/.

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[1] "John A. Bonner Medal | 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards". 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20070625173447/http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/scitech/bonner.html. Retrieved 2007-05-09.

[2] Vaziri, Todd (September 2007). "Boss Calls It Quits: The Industry Reacts". http://www.vfxhq.com/spotlight97/9709b.html.

[3] Kaufman, Debra (21 October 2004). "Jim Rygiel - Global Creativity". http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail233.html.

[4] Kaufman, Debra (3 April 2006). "Mark Stetson on Making Superman Fly (And Other Neat Tricks)". https://www.studiodaily.com/2006/04/mark-stetson-on-making-superman-fly-and-other-neat-tricks/.

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