Fans of Disney properties such as Marvel’s The Avengers and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars franchise have much to look forward with the highly anticipated Disney streaming service coming in 2019. We know Lucasfilm is currently in production with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian which is set in the Star Wars universe and we’ve also received word that Marvel will be in the mix with a mini-series featuring Avenger’s characters Loki and Scarlet Witch in separate projects. To keep up with the demand for groundbreaking visual effects to compliment these upcoming shows, Lucasfilm’s visual effects house, Industrial Light and Magic will be adding a television division known as ILM TV to meet these demands.
Here is the full press release from Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic detailing the creation of ILM TV
Industrial Light & Magic expanding its offering of best-in-class visual effects and animation services to include the streaming and episodic television market with a new division: ILM TV. The division will be based out of ILM’s new 47,000 square foot London studio and supported by the company’s global locations in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Singapore.
The ILM TV team will be lead by Visual Effects Supervisors Hayden Jones and Jonathan Privett alongside Executive Producers, Louise Hussey, and Stefan Drury. Previously, the team set up and oversaw DNEG’s television division; winning a BAFTA for Special, Visual and Graphic Effects for their work on BLACK MIRROR.
ILM TV’s first projects will be Lucasfilm’s eagerly anticipated live-action series based in the Star Wars universe, THE MANDALORIAN, being developed by Jon Favreau and Superman prequel series KRYPTON, now in its second season, based on DC characters from Warner Horizon Scripted Television for SYFY.
“It’s not often you get to create a new division at Industrial Light & Magic”, explained Rob Bredow, Executive Creative Director and Head of ILM, “We are seeing a real convergence in our creative approach used on films and in our immersive entertainment division ILMxLAB, and now we’re proud to be able to offer these ILM innovations in a way that’s suitable for streaming and television work to creatives around the world.”
ILM’s legacy in television dates back to the studio’s revolutionary and Emmy award-winning work for THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, which brought feature film quality effects to an episodic series for the first time.“We are extremely excited to be re-igniting ILM’s involvement in this market and to showcase the team’s expertise, unrivaled technology, and production management globally.” adds VFX Supervisor Hayden Jones, “The television and streaming segments have grown exponentially in recent years and we are seeing substantial demand for high caliber visual effects that can be delivered on schedule and within budget, all of which lie at the core of our teams expertise and proven track record.”
ILM TV will offer producers and showrunners access to Industrial Light & Magic’s legendary VFX talent, infrastructure and technology combined with a fresh approach to visual effects, designed to suit the condensed production schedules and rapid turnaround times that episodic series and online streaming programs demand.