Product Code Database
Richard Edlund, (born December 6, 1940) is an American visual effects artist and inventor. He was a founding member of Industrial Light & Magic, having already founded Pignose amplifiers, and later co-founded Boss Film Studios and DuMonde VFX. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects (1978, Star Wars; 1982, Raiders of the Lost Ark), as well as two Special Achievement Awards, two Scientific and Technical Awards, and the Medal of Commendation. He is also a BAFTA Award and Emmy Awards recipient.
Edlund continued to work with Dykstra on Battlestar Galactica but was invited back by George Lucas to work on The Empire Strikes Back. Edlund's considerable technical challenge on this film was to optically Compositing miniatures against a white background resulting in a second Academy Award. Edlund also did distinguished work for Lucas and ILM on Raiders of the Lost Ark and Poltergeist.
In 1983, following the completion of Return of the Jedi, Edlund set up his own effects company, Boss Films, whose credits include Ghostbusters, Big Trouble in Little China, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, Cliffhanger, Outbreak and Air Force One. Boss Film Studios was one of the first traditional effects houses that successfully transitioned from "tangible world" visual effects, to computer generated imagery, with many notable CGI artists beginning their careers at Boss.
Aside from film-work, Edlund also developed and manufactured the Pignose portable-style guitar amplifier (co-designed by Wayne Kimball). He is a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a founder of the Academy's visual effects branch and is chair of the Branch Executive Committee, also chairman of the Academy’s Science and Technology Council. He also serves as board member of the Visual Effects Society and on the board of directors of the American Society of Cinematographers.
Edlund was married to Rita Kogan, the only daughter of entrepreneur Michael Kogan, before her death in 2019.
| 1964 | The Creeping Terror | Opening & closing titles designer | Vic Savage | Uncredited |
| 1977 | Star Wars | Director of photography: VFX unit | George Lucas | Academy Award for Best Visual Effects |
| 1979 | The China Syndrome | VFX supervisor | James Bridges | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | Irvin Kershner | Academy Award for Best Visual Effects | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Steven Spielberg | Academy Award for Best Visual Effects | |
| 1982 | Poltergeist | Tobe Hooper | BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects Nominated- Academy Award for Best Visual Effects | |
| 1983 | Return of the Jedi | Richard Marquand | BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects | |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | Ivan Reitman | Nominated- Academy Award for Best Visual Effects Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects | |
| Peter Hyams | Nominated- Academy Award for Best Visual Effects | |||
| 1985 | Fright Night | VFX producer | Tom Holland (filmmaker) | |
| 1986 | VFX supervisor | Brian Gibson | Nominated- Academy Award for Best Visual Effects | |
| Legal Eagles | Ivan Reitman | |||
| Big Trouble in Little China | VFX producer | John Carpenter | ||
| Solarbabies | Alan Johnson | |||
| The Boy Who Could Fly | VFX supervisor | Nick Castle | ||
| 1987 | Masters of the Universe | Gary Goddard | ||
| The Monster Squad | Fred Dekker | |||
| Date with an Angel | VFX producer | Tom McLoughlin | ||
| Leonard Part 6 | Paul Weiland | |||
| 1988 | Die Hard | John McTiernan | Nominated- Academy Award for Best Visual Effects | |
| Big Top Pee-wee | Randal Kleiser | |||
| Vibes | Ken Kwapis | |||
| 1989 | Farewell to the King | Director of photography: VFX unit | John Milius | |
| 1990 | Ghost | VFX supervisor | Jerry Zucker | |
| Solar Crisis | Producer | Richard C. Sarafian | ||
| 1992 | Alien 3 | VFX producer | David Fincher | Nominated- Academy Award for Best Visual Effects Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects |
| 1995 | Species | VFX supervisor | Roger Donaldson | |
| 1996 | Multiplicity | Harold Ramis | ||
| 1997 | Turbulence | Robert Butler | ||
| Air Force One | Wolfgang Petersen | |||
| 1998 | Desperate Measures | Barbet Schroeder | ||
| 2000 | Bedazzled | VFX supervisor/Second unit director | Harold Ramis | |
| 2004 | The Stepford Wives | VFX consultant | Frank Oz | |
| 2007 | Anamorph | VFX supervisor | Henry S. Miller | |
| Charlie Wilson's War | Mike Nichols | |||
| 2012 | 21 Jump Street | Phil Lord Christopher Miller | ||
| Bullet to the Head | Walter Hill | |||
| 2015 | Barely Lethal | Kyle Newman |
| 1967 | 'The Companion' design | Episode: "" | |
| 1978 | Battlestar Galactica | Director of photography: VFX unit | Episodes: "Saga of a Star World Parts 1, 2, 3" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Creative Technical Crafts |
| 1988 | The Magical World of Disney | VFX producer | Episode: "Earth Star Voyager: Part 1" |
| 1989-95 | Tales from the Crypt | Producer | 5 episodes:
|
| 2003 | Angels in America | VFX supervisor | Miniseries; 4 episodes Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special |
| Academy Awards | Best Visual Effects | 1978 | Star Wars | |
| Special Achievement Award | 1981 | The Empire Strikes Back | ||
| Scientific and Technical Award | 1982 | The Empire Strikes Back | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Raiders of the Lost Ark | |||
| 1983 | Poltergeist | |||
| Special Achievement Award | 1984 | Return of the Jedi | ||
| Best Visual Effects | 1985 | Ghostbusters | ||
| 1987 | ||||
| Scientific and Technical Award | Poltergeist II: The Other Side | |||
| Best Visual Effects | 1989 | Die Hard | ||
| 1993 | Alien 3 | |||
| Medal of Commendation | 2007 | |||
| American Society of Cinematographers | President's Award | 2008 | ||
| BAFTA Award | Best Special Visual Effects | 1983 | Poltergeist | |
| 1984 | Return of the Jedi | |||
| 1985 | Ghostbusters | |||
| 1993 | Alien 3 | |||
| Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Creative Technical Crafts | 1979 | Battlestar Galactica | |
| Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | 2004 | Angels in America | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Special Effects | 1981 | The Empire Strikes Back | |
| 1982 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | |||
| 1984 | Return of the Jedi | |||
| 1985 | 2010: The Year We Make Contact | |||
| 1986 | Fright Night | |||
| 1987 | Poltergeist II: The Other Side | |||
| 1988 | Masters of the Universe | |||
| 1991 | Ghost | |||
| 1993 | Alien 3 | |||
| 1994 | Solar Crisis | |||
| 1996 | Species | |||
| Sitges Film Festival | Best Special Effects | 1995 | ||
| Visual Effects Society | VES Fellowship | 2012 | ||
| Lifetime Achievement Award | 2013 |
|
|
