‘Star Wars Episode VII’ Crew Announced
As the Disney earnings call approaches, Disney finally decided to announce publicly that screenwriterMichael Arndtwas officially offStar Wars Episode VII, and that directorJ.J. AbramsandLawrence Kasdanare busy working on the current screenplay. (If you havent yet, read more about that here.) But the press release also featured details of the crew that is on board for the upcoming sequel. Lets take a look at the list of names after the jump.
One thing you’ll notice while looking at this list of crew members is that most of them fall into at least one of the following categories:
Lets take a look:
Director of photography will beDan Mindel, South African-born American Society of Cinematographers member who has previously collaborated with Abrams onMission: Impossible III,Star Trek, andStar Trek Into Darkness. His other credits include Tony Scott filmsEnemy of the State, Spy GameandDomino. He’s also worked onThe Bourne Identity, John Carter, Oliver Stone’sSavages, and most recentlyThe Amazing Spider-Man 2. Mindel has yet to shoot a movie digitally, and as we’re reported previously,Episode VIIwill continue the shot-on-film tradition.
Sound designerBen Burttshould be a name that manyStar Warsfans recognize. He worked withGeorge Lucason the sounds for all of theStar Warsfilms and theIndiana Jonesadventures. Not only did he create the voice of the droids but also helped Spielberg design the voice of E.T. and was the voice of WALL-E and M-O in Pixar’s WALL-E. He has a long history with Kathleen Kennedy, George Lucas and also JJ Abrams, having previously collaborated with JJ onStar Trek, Super 8andStar Trek Into Darkness.
Production designers will beRick CarterandDarren Gilford. Carter started his career as an art director on such films asThe GooniesandThe Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, making his transition to production design on theBack to the Futuresequels. Note his history with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy. He worked with Spielberg directly onJurassic Park, The Lost World, Amistad, A.I., War of the Worlds, Munich, WarhorseandLincoln. He was also a collaborator with Robert Zemeckis before he got sucked into the performance capture computer world, working on the aforementedBTTFsequels,Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, Contact, What Lies Beneath, andCast Away. Recent years include credits onAvatarandSucker Punch.(Say what you will about either of those films, but you cant knock the production design.) He has been nominated for four academy awards, sharing wins for two of them:AvatarandLincoln.
Darren Gilford got his start later, first as an art director on theJames Cameron-directed Universal Studios theme park attraction short filmT2 3-D: Battle Across Time, and has production design credits onIdiocracy, and Joseph Kosinski’sTron LegacyandOblivion.Again, say what you will about those films, but don’t knock the production design.
Costume designerMichael Kaplangot his start on films likeBlade RunnerandFlash Dancein the early 1980’s, and has worked withDavid FincheronSe7en, The Game, Fight Club, andPanic Room. He also worked with director Michael Bay onArmageddonandPearl Harbor. Kaplan worked with JJ and Bad Robot onStar Trek,Mission: Impossible – Ghost ProtocolandStar Trek Into Darkness.
Special effects supervisorChris Corbouldworked on the Christopher ReevesSupermansequels,Willow,andAlien 3as a technician, before working his way up to Special Effects Supervisor on theJames BondfilmsGoldeneye, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of SolaceandSkyfall. He’s also worked on the Tomb Raider movies and was a frequent collaborator with Christopher Nolan, working onBatman Begins, The Dark Knight, InceptionandThe Dark Knight Returns.
Re-recording mixerGary Rydstromalso got his start in the Lucas universe, as an audio technician forIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He worked on Lucas theme park filmsCaptain EOandStar Tours, as well as the Jim Henson producedMuppet*vision 3-D. He did sound on many of the early Pixar short films (Luxo Jr, Tin Toy, Knick Knack) before graduating to the Pixar feature films (theToy Storymovies,A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Up, andCars 2). At Skywalker Sound he worked on many great films, includingBackdraft, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Jumanji, Saving Private Ryan, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, The Lone Rangerand more. He was also a Sound Re-recording Mixer on theStar Warsprequels and worked with JJ Abrams and Bad Robot before onSuper 8andMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
Supervising sound editorMatthew Woodof Skywalker Sound has a history with Star Wars and George Lucas — he got his start as an Assistant Editor onThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and was Supervising Sound Editor on the last twoStar Warsmovies, in addition to providing the voices of Magaloof, Seboca and General Grievous. He worked with Ben Burtt onWALL·Eand collaborated with JJ onSuper 8andStar Trek Into Darkness.
Visual effects supervisorRoger Guyettof Industrial Light & Magic got his start on the Kathleen Kennedy/Steven Spielberg produced animated filmWe’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story. His credits includeCasper, Twister, DragonHeart, Mars Attacks, Saving Private Ryan, the Harry Potter films, Mission: Impossible III, the last twoPirates of the Caribbeanfilms, andCowboys & Aliens. He isn’t a Star Wars virgin either, he worked as a visual effects supervisor onStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith(where he also has a cameo in the Opera House as a patron). He’s also previously collaborated with J.J. Abrams on theStar Trekfilms as VFX Supervisor and Second Unit Director.
And previously announced,John Williamsis returning to scoreStar Wars: Episode VII after providing the music for the prior installments. No credit listing needed.
Also already announced:Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burkare producing, withTommy Harper(Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,Jack Ryan,Star Trek Into Darkness) andJason McGatlin(Tintin,War of the Worlds) serving as executive producers.
