Marc Weigert (born June 3, 1970) is a

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

and film/TV

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 ...

supervisor and 2nd unit director.

Early career

Weigert was born in

Bad Harzburg Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa and climatic health resort. Geograph ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. While at Christian-von-Dohm-Gymnasium, a grammar school in

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

, Germany, he developed an interest in filmmaking. He moved on to study directing and producing from 1991 to 1994 at the

Film Academy Baden-Württemberg The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg (German: ''Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg'') was founded in 1991 as a publicly funded film school in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Filmakademie is one of the most internationally renowned film sc ...

. There he met

Volker Engel Volker Engel (born 17 February 1965) is a German special effects artist who is best known as one of the people who won at the 69th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects on the film ''Independence Day''. He won with Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney a ...

, who would later win the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for the visual effects of ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

'' and become Weigert's business partner in the production company Uncharted Territory, LLC. During his studies, Weigert was the visual effects producer for Volker Engel on the television film ''Der Letzte Kosmonaut'', directed by

Nico Hofmann Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...

. The film won the "Prix Futura". He also produced several commercials and award-winning short films for German TV. Weigert moved to Los Angeles in 1994, after receiving a scholarship from a German producer's association.

Later career

In 1995, Weigert founded the company Dreamscape Imagery Inc. with his wife Stacey. He became VFX Project Manager for the film ''

'' (1996), for which Weigert created "Digital Assistant for Visual Effects", a

project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

to manage, schedule and track the filming of VFX elements. In conjunction with the software, Weigert also developed a design for a visual effects

production board A traditional production board, stripboard, or production strip is a filmmaking term for a cardboard or wooden chart displaying color-coded strips of paper, each containing information about a scene in the film's shooting script. The strips can then ...

, in conjunction with manufacturing company Hollywood Production Boards. Between 1996 and 2000, he created new software versions to include the

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

process. Digital Assistant for Visual Effects has been used for several feature films, including ''

Stuart Little ''Stuart Little'' is a 1945 American children's novel by E. B. White. It was White's first children's book, and it is now widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the subsequently award-winnin ...

'', ''

Alien Resurrection ''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the ''Alien'' franchise, and was f ...

'', '' Flubber'', ''

Volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

'', ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

'', ''

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

'', ''

Monkeybone ''Monkeybone'' is a 2001 American black comedy fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, written by Sam Hamm, produced by Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe, and executive produced by Chris Columbus, Selick, and Hamm. The film combines live-acti ...

'', ''

Bless the Child ''Bless the Child'' is a 2000 supernatural horror film directed by Chuck Russell and starring Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Angela Bettis, Rufus Sewell, Christina Ricci, and Holliston Coleman. It follows a woman who discovers that her niece, who ...

'' and ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'', as well as on television films and series. Dreamscape Imagery Inc. sold the source code to the Internet company Creative Planet Inc. in 2000. As

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects. While it is a creative role, most supervisors possess a st ...

for Dreamscape, Weigert worked on a plethora of international feature films, television films, series and commercials, most notably

Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

'' Flubber'', ', ''

Muppets from Space ''Muppets from Space'' is a 1999 American science-fiction film, science-fiction comedy film directed by Tim Hill (director), Tim Hill (in his List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut) and written by Jerry Juhl, Joey Mazzarino, Jo ...

'' and ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized ...

''. He also worked on several documentaries, earning Dreamscape the

CINE Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer to ...

Golden Eagle award. In 1997, Weigert held the master class "action with effects" for the

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soci ...

. In 2014, he taught a second master class for the EFA and thus became the only instructor to hold two EFA master classes in his lifetime. He also taught digital compositing classes at the Art Institute of California - Los Angeles, was speaker at the iHollywood Forum and the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New media, New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing esta ...

(PGA)'s first "produced by" conference in Los Angeles in 2009. He also spoke at the

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...

(SMPTE) conference,

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

Los Angeles and Vancouver conferences, FMX Germany, the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg, Austria and the HPI School of Design Thinking at the

Hasso Plattner Institute The Hasso Plattner Institute (Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering gGmbH), abbreviated HPI, is a German information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, an ...

, Berlin In 1999, he founded the production company Uncharted Territory LLC with long-time friend and colleague Volker Engel. The first production, and Weigert's first film as a producer, ''

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) * Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred to simply as "Coronado" * Coronado Chávez (1807–1881), President of Honduras from 1845 to 1847 Places United ...

'', was shot in 2001 in Mexico. The film was written by Weigert, Engel and director Claudio Faeh. In 2003, Weigert co-produced the film '' Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King'' and served as visual effects director together with Volker Engel. ''Dark Kingdom'', aka ''Ring of the Nibelungs'' is based on the same Germanic myth as

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's opera series ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

''. In-between film productions, Uncharted Territory also created the

Intermedia Intermedia is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe various interdisciplinarity art activities that occur between genres, beginning in the 1960s. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to works ...

logo animation which premiered before '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'' and provided visual effects services for

Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the industry. His films, most of wh ...

's ''

The Day After Tomorrow ''The Day After Tomorrow'' is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Roland Emmerich. Based on the 1999 book ''The Coming Global Superstorm'' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, the film stars Denn ...

'' in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. In 2005, Weigert wrote the screenplay ''Southern Skies'' and produced the miniseries '' The Triangle'' together with Engel and Kelly Van Horn, for executive producers

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...

and

Dean Devlin Dean Devlin (born August 27, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor of film and television. He is best known for his collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, and for his work on the The Librarian (franchise), ''Li ...

. In 2006, Weigert won the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for '' The Triangle''. In 2006, Weigert wrote the screenplay ''Force Majeure'' und co-wrote ''Raising Phoenix'' and ''Red Sea'' with writer Kurt Frey and Volker Engel. He also served as visual effects supervisor on the

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

EOS commercial "Welcome to the Playground". In 2007, he served as visual effects supervisor for

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

and ''Tropicana'' commercials, and as vfx producer for

Cafe FX CafeFX was an award-winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects production and supervision, CG character creation, and 3D animation. Founded in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner, CafeFX was located in a studio on an ei ...

, working - amongst other projects - on the

Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional Scotland, Scottish boarding school of Magic in Harry Potter, magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Pot ...

castle ride film for the new

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

Island of Adventure at

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

. In 2008-2009, Weigert co-supervised and co-produced Roland Emmerich's ''

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

'' for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

with his business partner Volker Engel. In 2010, Weigert was executive producer and VFX supervisor for the film ''

Anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

'', again for director Roland Emmerich. In 2012/13, Weigert was VFX supervisor, co-producer, and 2nd unit director for Emmerich's "

White House Down ''White House Down'' is a 2013 American political action thriller film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by James Vanderbilt. In the film, a divorced US Capitol Police officer attempts to rescue both his daughter and the President of the ...

". He led a 70-people strong 2nd Unit for exterior Montreal and Washington, D.C. shoots, including the iconic car chase between the presidential limousine ("the beast" ) and secret service vehicles on the White House lawn. In July 2014, Weigert was named President of Method Studios worldwide. Method Studios is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and has 9 facilities, including New York, London, Vancouver, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Sydney and Melbourne. He left Method after one year in June 2015. In July 2015, Weigert joined the production of '' Independence Day: Resurgence'' as VFX Producer, 20 years after the first ''Independence Day''. In the same year, he was voted into the prestigious

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...

(ASC) as associate member. In June 2016, he started as co-producer and VFX producer on "Nutcracker and the four realms" for the Walt Disney Company, released worldwide in November 2018. Weigert is a member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

(DGA),

(PGA), the

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...

(ATAS) and the

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and pr ...

(VES). He was part of the ASC/ADG/VES subcommittee on Previsualization and the joint committee on virtual production of the ASC, ADG, VES, PGA and Previsualization society. He also writes a blog called "tracking marc" for Animation World Network (AWN) at http://www.awn.com/blogs/tracking-marc. Marc resides on

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin ...

Awards

for '' The Triangle in 2006'' *

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for ''

in 2009'' * Nominated for Online Film&Television Association (OFTA) Award in 2010 * Nominated for three

VES VES may refer to: Society * Venezuelan (ISO 4217 code VES), the currency of Venezuela beginning in 2018 Science and technology * Video Entertainment System, second generation video games console * Vertical electrical sounding, geophysical i ...

awards (2010 for ''2012'', 2011 for "Anonymous", and 2014 for ''White House Down'') * Nominated for a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

in 2010 for ''2012'' * Nominated for a

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...

in 2010 for ''2012''

References

imdb: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

imdb: Independence Day: Resurgence

Variety: Marc Weigert named President of Method Studios

Hollywood Reporter: VFX vet Marc Weigert joins Method Studios

Animation World Network "Tracking Marc" blog

imdb: White House Down
*
imdb: 2012

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS)

Scifi.com - emmy award
* Wikipedia: The Triangle (miniseries)
imdb: The Triangle

imdb: Dark Kingdom (aka Ring of the Nibelungs)

imdb: Coronado

The Hollywood Reporter: Emmy awards 2006

Uncharted Territory, LLC

Dreamscape Imagery Inc.

External links

*
Marc Weigert personal website

Uncharted Territory, Inc website

Method Studios website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weigert, Marc 1970 births Living people Mass media people from Lower Saxony Special effects people Visual effects supervisors Primetime Emmy Award winners