At this point, it seems like even the layman understands Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) company was one of the forerunners of movie magic and VFX. Founded in 1975 by filmmaker George Lucas before he ventured off and made his culture game-changing “Star Wars” films, ILM has been at the forefront of nearly VFX technologies, even pioneering digital VFX with Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” movies— before “Jurassic Park,” animators had never even tried to reproduce real animals digitally for a feature film. Sr. ILM Senior VFX supervisor John Knoll, who has been with the company for decades—the person who originally conceived of the story behind “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”—even helped co-create Adobe’s Photoshop program, one of the most important digital photo tools on the planet that has been used ever since in thousands of VFX and animation applications.
In other words, there’s no “Star Wars” and movie magic as evolved as we know it without all the pioneering work of ILM. ILM also speaks to George Lucas as a person beyond just a writer/director—Lucas was always an innovator and entrepreneur who was constantly trying to push the envelope of his imagination by pushing the boundaries of what technology could do.
Late yesterday, Disney premiered the trailer for Lucasfilm and Imagine Documentaries’ “Light & Magic,” an immersive series that chronicles the untold history of world-renowned Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the special visual effects, animation and virtual production division of Lucasfilm. Directed and narrated by Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter behind “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return Of The Jedi,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” and director of several acclaimed films in his own right like “Body Heat” (1981) and “The Big Chill” (1983), having worked in and around Lucasfilm for years, he’s certainly the right person to shepherd this story.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Granted unparalleled access, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan takes viewers on an adventure behind the curtain of Industrial Light & Magic. Learn about the pioneers of modern filmmaking as we go on a journey to bring George Lucas’ vision to life. These filmmakers would then go on to inspire the entire industry of visual effects.
The series is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and the executive producers are Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Justin Wilkes, Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy, and Michelle Rejwan.
All six episodes of “Light & Magic” premiere on July 27, exclusively on Disney+. Watch the first trailer below.