Boss Film Studios was a prominent American

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

company, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his departure from

Industrial Light and Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...

, producing visual effects for over thirty films from 1983 to 1997. 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 Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and innovative visual effects supervisor. He pioneered methods in special effects and created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Close Encounters ...

's Entertainment Effects Group, taking over their

Marina Del Rey Marina del Rey (Spanish language, Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated area, unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination ...

facility.

Competition with ILM

Boss Film soon established itself as one of ILM's competitors as it contributied to such projects as ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Al ...

'', '' Poltergeist II'', and ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong ...

''. 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 VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. Paramount never used anamorphic processes such as 2.55: 1, CinemaScope but refi ...

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 Game Studios was an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington. The company was founded in 1994 and closed in 2002. It specialized in Nintendo 64 racing games with releases such as ''Top Gear Rally'' and '' World Driver Champi ...

. Boss Film also operated a commercial production company producing many television spots for companies including

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...

, Dodge,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

, 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.

Awards

*Nominated for the 1993 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for ''

Alien 3 ''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''A''LIEN³) is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. It stars Sigourney Weaver, reprising her ...

''. 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 ''

''. The named nominees were Richard Edlund, Al Di Sarro,

Brent Boates Brent Boates is an American storyboard and visual effects artist. He was nominated at the 61st Academy Awards in the category Best Visual Effects for his work on the film ''Die Hard''. His nomination was shared with Al DiSarro, Richard Edl ...

, 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 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

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 Neil Joseph Krepela (born April 1947 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American special effects artist and cinematographer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Special Effects. Life Neil Krepela was born in 1947 as son of Carl Charles Kre ...

, George Jenson, and Mark Stetson) and ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, thr ...

'' (Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Mark Vargo, and Chuck Gaspar).

Notable Boss Film alumni

* John Bruno * Christian Colquhoun * Randall William Cook * Richard Edlund * Evan Jacobs *

Greg Jein Greg Jein (born October 31, 1945 in Los Angeles, USA; died May 22, 2022) was a Chinese American model designer who created miniatures for use in the special effects portions of many films and television series, beginning in the 1970s. Jein was ...

* Steve Johnson * Patrick McClung * Bill Neil * Jim Rygiel *

Screaming Mad George , known as Screaming Mad George (born October 7, 1956), is a Japanese special effects artist, film director, and former musician. He was born in Osaka, Japan, and emigrated to the United States, where he has become known for his surreal, gory spe ...

Stephen Stanton Stephen Walter Stanton (born August 22, 1961) is an American voice actor and visual effects artist. His roles include Sasha Nein in ''Psychonauts'' and ''Psychonauts 2'', Grand Moff Tarkin in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, Admiral Raddus in ''Rogu ...

* Mark Stetson * David K. Stewart * Garry Waller * Terry Windell * Bruce MacRae

Facility location

13335 Maxella Avenue, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

Filmography

''1984'' * ''

'' (credited as Effects Entertainment Group) * '' 2010'' (credited as Effects Entertainment Group) ''1985'' * ''

Fright Night ''Fright Night'' is a 1985 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland (in his directorial debut) and produced by Herb Jaffe. It stars Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall, Amanda Bearse, Jonathan Star ...

'' ''1986'' * ''

'' * '' Poltergeist II: The Other Side'' * ''

Solarbabies ''Solarbabies'' (also known as ''Solarwarriors'' and ''Solarfighters'') is a 1986 American science fiction film, made by Brooksfilms and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the second and final film directed by Alan Johnson, who is better kno ...

'' * ''

Legal Eagles ''Legal Eagles'' is a 1986 American legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller film directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. from a story by Reitman and the screenwriters, and starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and ...

'' * ''

The Boy Who Could Fly ''The Boy Who Could Fly'' is a 1986 American fantasy drama film written and directed by Nick Castle. It was produced by Lorimar Productions for 20th Century Fox, and released theatrically on August 15, 1986. The film stars Lucy Deakins as 14-y ...

'' ''1987'' * '' Masters of the Universe'' * ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American black comedy horror film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black, who met as classmates at UCLA. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by TriSt ...

'' * ''

Date with an Angel ''Date with an Angel'' is a 1987 American romantic fantasy comedy film starring Emmanuelle Béart, Phoebe Cates and Michael E. Knight. The film was written and directed by Tom McLoughlin. The original music score was composed by Randy Kerber. Th ...

'' * '' Leonard Part 6'' ''1988'' * '' Switching Channels'' * ''

'' * '' Vibes'' * ''

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

'' * ''

Big Top Pee-wee ''Big Top Pee-wee'' is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser. A stand-alone sequel to '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' (1985), the film stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman with Susan Tyrrell, Kris Kristofferson, Penelope Ann Mil ...

'' ''1989'' * ''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'' series opening ''1990'' * ''

The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

'' * '' Ghost'' * '' Solar Crisis'' ''1992'' * ''

'' * ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman'' (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 ''Batman ...

'' * ''

Far and Away ''Far and Away'' is a 1992 American epic Western romantic adventure drama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Bob Dolman and a story by Howard and Dolman. It stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. This was the last cinematography cr ...

'' ''1993'' * ''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

'' * ''

Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...

'' * '' Journey to Technopia'' ''1994'' * ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. ...

'' * ''

Drop Zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes. In ...

'' * '' The Scout'' * ''

The Specialist ''The Specialist'' is a 1994 American action thriller film directed by Luis Llosa and starring Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Eric Roberts, and Rod Steiger. It is loosely based on "The Specialist" series of novels by John Shirley ...

'' * ''

Demon Knight ''Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight'' is a 1995 American horror comedy film directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Billy Zane, William Sadler, and Jada Pinkett. Brenda Bakke, C. C. H. Pounder, Dick Miller and Thomas Haden Church c ...

'' ''1995'' * ''

Outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

'' * ''

Species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

'' * ''

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Char ...

'' * ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

'' * '' Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'' ''1996'' * ''

Multiplicity Multiplicity may refer to: In science and the humanities * Multiplicity (mathematics), the number of times an element is repeated in a multiset * Multiplicity (philosophy), a philosophical concept * Multiplicity (psychology), having or using mult ...

'' ''1997'' * ''

Turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

'' * '' Air Force One'' * '' Starship Troopers'' ''1998'' * '' Desperate Measures''

References

{{Animation industry in the United States American animation studios Computer animation Special effects companies Visual effects companies Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Entertainment companies established in 1983 American companies disestablished in 1997 1983 establishments in California 1997 disestablishments in California American companies established in 1983