Boss Film Studios was a prominent American visual effects company, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his departure from Industrial Light and Magic, producing visual effects for over thirty films from 1983 to 1997.[1] 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).

Boss Film Studios
IndustryVisual effects, CGI animation
Founded1983
Defunct1997
HeadquartersMarina del Rey, California, United States
Key people
Richard Edlund

History

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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's Entertainment Effects Group, taking over their Marina Del Rey facility.

Competition with ILM

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Boss Film soon established itself as one of ILM's competitors as it contributed to such projects as Die Hard, Poltergeist II, and Big Trouble in Little China.

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 format due to its much larger negative area.

Boss Game Studios

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Boss Film branched out into video game production in 1994 through sister company Boss Game Studios. Boss Film also operated a commercial production company producing many television spots for companies including Budweiser, Dodge, United Airlines, and DHL.

Closure

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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.[2]

Awards

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Notable Boss Film alumni

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Facility location

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13335 Maxella Avenue, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "John A. Bonner Medal | 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards". Oscars.org. 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  2. ^ Vaziri, Todd (September 2007). "Boss Calls It Quits: The Industry Reacts". www.vfxhq.com. Archived from the original on 1999-11-16. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Debra (21 October 2004). "Jim Rygiel - Global Creativity". ITConversations. Archived from the original on 16 November 2004.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Debra (3 April 2006). "Mark Stetson on Making Superman Fly (And Other Neat Tricks)". www.studiodaily.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-03. Retrieved 17 November 2020.