Industrial Light & Magic

Industrial Light & Magic, or ILM, is a visual effects (VFX) company, which over the course of its existence has achieved a near legendary status in the motion picture industry. Founded and owned in May 1975 by as part of Lucasfilm Ltd., with the specific intent to provide the VFX for his, what turned out to be, first movie and cornerstone of the hugely successful Star Wars franchise (see: Paramount Pictures: Footnotes), the company quickly became a renowned and prolific effects house, working on numerous feature films, including several stemming from the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek
ILM started its longtime association with Star Trek in 1981 when the company was contracted for the VFX for. This came about as Paramount Pictures, the owner and producer of the Star Trek productions, became the production partner of Lucasfilm for the inception of the 1981 movie, the first outing of what was to become the successful Indiana Jones franchise. Paramount awarded ILM the Star Trek commission in order to cement the new relationship with Lucasfilm. For this Paramount was willing to sacrifice its own subsidiary effects house Future General Corporation (FGC), which had successfully provided the effects for the previous Star Trek movie,. According to its former operator, Douglas Trumbull, FGC had actually underbid ILM by US$1.5 million for the commission to no avail, as the studio claimed that they wanted to cement the relationship with ILM, with FGC subsequently phased out of existence. (Cinefantastique, Vol 12 #5/6, p. 65) Incidentally, Trumbull had also brought in John Dykstra's Apogee, Inc. on The Motion Picture; Dykstra and co-worker as well as veteran Richard Edlund had been instrumental ILM VFX staffers – being two of the "original fourteen" – on the first Star Wars movie, winning both men a shared Academy Award, before subsequently striking out on their own. While Dykstra was not, Edlund was again employed by ILM, when the company started to work on its first two Star Trek films, but Edlund was not assigned to either, instead he worked on the Indiana Jones outings among others before leaving again, definitely this time.

An efficient and reliable company, ILM's contributions for the three subsequent went off without any noticeable hitches, generally on time and on budget, much to the delight of Paramount, and a far cry from what the studio had to go through with Robert Abel & Associates (before FGC's involvement) on The Motion Picture. And indeed, the producers of again wanted to employ the services of the company, but as its director, William Shatner clarified, "Having begun our search for magic at ILM, we were dismayed to find that most of that firm's best technicians, the A team, were already hard at work on the Steven Spielberg/Lucas collaboration Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. At the same time, a good portion of the B team were putting together the effects for Ghostbusters II. We knew that the best ILM could offer simply wasn't their best, and for that reason, we tested the water by asking a number of companies all over Hollywood to audition for the job on Star Trek IV, fronting each of them $10,000 and asking that they do their best to create a striking and unusual image of God. We found our winner in... Hoboken, New Jersey." (Star Trek Movie Memories, 1995, pp. 298-300) A financial and critical failure, the disappointing VFX ILM's replacement, Associates and Ferren, had produced, were cited as one of the most important causes for the poor performance of The Final Frontier.

For the next production,, ILM was also considered to be dropped as VFX vendor, but for entirely different reasons. A troubled production, struggling with a too tightly set production budget, the movie was facing cancellation if the producers could not come up with cost saving measures. A former "Trekkie", Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe, was so desperate to see the film come to fruition that he even went as far to suggest dropping ILM as the visual effects vendor for the movie, instead going for a cheaper company. However the Associates and Ferren visual effects debacle for the previous movie was still very much fresh on the minds of his colleagues, and no one was willing to go that far. Nevertheless, the planned 110 visual effects cuts were whittled down to just 51 to meet the tight budget. Yet, trimming down the visual effects cuts to 51 turned out to be too ambitious, as 30 of the originally jettisoned effects sequences had to be produced by ILM and inserted after all, in order to make the movie "cut" well. (Cinefantastique, Vol 22 #5, p. 35) It was now that the dedication of veteran ILM staffers to Star Trek came to the fore; While the studio had no budget from new studio models, one was actually constructed as something of a labor of love by ILM staffers John Goodson and Bill George, the SD-103-type. The script had a scene featured which both men felt needed embellishment, and so, out of their own volition, they constructed the model. (Cinefex, issue 49, p. 48) The model went on to later become the. It has made The Undiscovered Country the feature where the least new Star Trek starship designs were featured. George incidentally, turned out to be a stickler for detail; As he was aware that the USS Excelsior (NCC-2000) had now a new and smaller bridge set, he made the effort to replace the originally larger bridge module on the Excelsior-class filming model with a smaller one, in order to reflect the change. (American Cinematographer, January 1992, pp. 58-59)

When the Star Trek television franchise was relaunched in 1986 with, Producer Robert Justman put out bids to several VFX companies for the build of two new, differently sized, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) hero Galaxy-class studio models, including ILM, not really expecting them to be able to make an offer on a television budget. However, Justman lucked out, as the company tendered a bid that was below par as the company was between jobs, "What they decided was to make a bare-bones bid, enough to keep their doors open and keep everyone on that they needed. Oh, it was a tremendous bid. I couldn´t believe it was so cheap! But it was ILM, you know? The best in the business!", an overjoyed Justman exclaimed. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2003, p. 12) As the build of the models progressed, ILM was subsequently able to secure an additional commission to shoot a library of effects sequences that consisted of 69 shots with some 300 elements. Having only worked on the pilot episode of the new series,, the fact that their VFX footage had been used as stock-footage throughout the entire run of the series, warranted ILM the "Industrial Light & Magic, A Division of Lucasfilm Ltd." credit in the end credit roll of all seven seasons. Bill George also contributed the studio model for use in the Next Generation's series finale, but this he did on personal title, not as part of ILM.

Another unexpected contribution ILM made for the television franchise, occurred when key staffer John Knoll, working on the post-production of at the time, was approached for the CGI build of the Bajoran lightship, to be featured in 's third season episode, which he dutifully performed, but for which neither he nor his company received any credit. Incidentally, it had been Knoll who had constructed the very first CGI version of a Star Trek "hero" ship, that of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) for use in Generations. Very shortly thereafter he, again uncredited, contributed to the renewed title sequence for Deep Space Nine, shown from onward, which consisted of a combination of  and CGI elements. At the time still a time intensive production method, Knoll pitched in with the CGI work out of courtesy, "I made about half a dozen little bits and pieces [rem: work bees and the welders on the pylons] for the sequence, including a generic alien ship with blue glowy engines." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 335)

While ILM has enjoyed a relative VFX monopoly during the production of the Original Crew movies, things started to change in the early 1990s with the advent of digital techniques of producing them, most conspicuously CGI. Somewhat counter-intuitively, as it were the classic methods of producing VFX that were traditionally considered labor-intensive, the exponentially progressive sophistication of the digital techniques warranted an ever growing number of specialized VFX staffers to such an extent that ILM already needed additional help from other VFX companies while they were involved with the The Next Generation movies. By the time the two alternate universe movies went into production, the size of the VFX staff had truly exploded, and ILM had become just one of several companies who were working on the VFX of Star Trek movies (even loosing its lead position to Pixomondo for ), or of any other motion picture production with a heavy VFX outlay for that matter. Exemplary of the growing sophistication of VFX production was that for the movies, The Search for Spock needed 42 staffers (the lowest staff outlay to date), whereas Star Trek (2009) required a staff of no less than 315 people, the vast majority of whom predominantly digital specialists.

Summary
Over the course of its existence, ILM has provided visual effects sequences for the following Star Trek live-action productions: Additionally, many Star Trek films and television episodes featured stock footage from these projects, done by ILM, including:
 * (including reused footage from ''The Undiscovered Country)
 * Star Trek television series
 * (Company credit only, credit and footage reused throughout the entire series)
 * 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''
 * (Bajoran lightship by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * (CGI elements in new title sequence by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * Star Trek television series
 * (Company credit only, credit and footage reused throughout the entire series)
 * 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''
 * (Bajoran lightship by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * (CGI elements in new title sequence by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * (Company credit only, credit and footage reused throughout the entire series)
 * 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''
 * (Bajoran lightship by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * (CGI elements in new title sequence by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * (CGI elements in new title sequence by John Knoll, otherwise uncredited)
 * Reused stock footage
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 * (from, and )
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Star Trek staff
An ever increasing number of ILM employees have consecutively worked on the Star Trek productions and are listed below, for function where possible, as identified in the end credit rolls, as well as on the IMDb motion picture and television website.

Star Trek: The Next Generation crew
For "Encounter at Farpoint" none of the ILM staffers received an individual credit, instead all their contributions were lumped together under the company name.
 * On the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint", the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Visual Effects Director of Photography
 * Pat Sweeney
 * Visual Effects Manager
 * Patricia Blau
 * Visual Effects Supervisor
 * David Carson
 * Visual Effects Artists
 * John Knoll
 * Model Shop Supervisor
 * Jeff Mann
 * Modelmakers
 * Barbara Affonso
 * Sean Casey
 * Bill Concannom
 * Steve Gawley – Supervising Model Maker
 * Bill George
 * Gregory Jein – Subcontractor; Lead Modeler
 * Ease Owyeung – Lead Modeler
 * Wesley Seeds
 * Larry Tan
 * Howie Weed
 * Visual Effects Assistant Camera Man
 * Robert Hill
 * Assistant Lighting Camera Operator
 * Ray Gilberti
 * Technician
 * Michael Olague
 * Animator
 * Wes Takahashi

The Wrath of Khan crew

 * On the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Special Visual Effects Supervisors
 * Ken Ralston
 * Jim Veilleux
 * Effects Cameramen
 * Don Dow
 * Scott Farrar
 * Camera Operator
 * Stewart Barbee
 * Assistant Camera Operators
 * Selwyn Eddy III
 * David Hardberger
 * Robert Hill
 * Mike Owens
 * Michael Santy
 * Optical Photography Supervisor
 * Bruce Nicholson
 * Optical Printer Operators
 * David Berry
 * Keneth Smith
 * Mark Vargo
 * John Ellis
 * Donald Clark
 * Optical Line-up
 * Thomas Rosseter
 * Ed Jones
 * Ralph Gordon
 * Optical Laboratory Technicians
 * Tim Geideman
 * Duncan Myers
 * Bob Chrisoulis
 * General Manager
 * Tom Smith
 * Production Supervisor
 * Patricia Rose Duignan
 * Production Coordinator
 * Warren Franklin
 * Matte Painting Artists
 * Frank Ordaz
 * Matte Photography
 * Neil Krepela
 * Matte Photography Assistant
 * Craig Barron
 * Supervising Modelmaker
 * Steve Gawley
 * Modelmakers
 * William George
 * Sean Casey
 * Larry Tan
 * Jeff Mann
 * Steve Sanders
 * Brian Chinn
 * Bob Diepenbrock
 * Mike Fulmer
 * Model Electronics
 * Marty Brenneis
 * Animation Supervisor
 * Samuel Comstock
 * Animators
 * Kim Knowlton
 * Scott Caple
 * Jim Keefer
 * Kathryn Lenihan
 * Judy Elkins
 * Jay Davis
 * Additional Animation
 * Visual Concepts Engineering
 * Supervising Effects Editor
 * Arthur Repola
 * Effects Editor
 * Peter Amundson
 * Computer Database Management
 * Malcom Blanchard
 * Computer Graphics (Lucasfilm Graphics Group)
 * Loren Carpenter
 * Ed Catmull
 * Pat Cole
 * Rob Cook
 * Tom Duff
 * Thomas Porter
 * William Reeves
 * Alvy Ray Smith
 * Starfield Effects
 * Evans & Sutheland, Digstar System
 * Tactical Displays
 * Evans & Sutherland, Picture System
 * Brent Watson
 * Steve McAllister
 * Neil Harrington
 * Jeri Panek
 * Molecular Computer Graphics
 * Computer Graphics Laboratory, University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Robert Langridge
 * Still Photographer
 * Terry Chostner
 * Still Lab Technicians
 * Robert McGrath
 * Kerry Nordquist
 * Supervising Stage Technician
 * T.E. Moehnke
 * Stage Technicians
 * Dave Childers
 * Harold Cole
 * Dick Dova
 * Bobby Fink III
 * Patrick Fitzsimmons
 * Edward Hirsh
 * John McLeod
 * Peter Stolz
 * Pyrotechnics
 * Thaine Morris
 * Equipment Coordinator
 * Wade Childress
 * Ultra High Speed Camera
 * Bruce Hill Productions
 * Assistant to Tom Smith
 * Kyle Turner
 * Travel Arrangements
 * Kathy Shine
 * Kathy Shine

The Search for Spock crew

 * In the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Supervisor of Visual Effects
 * Kenneth Ralston
 * Visual Effects Art Directors
 * Nilo Rodis
 * David Carson
 * Optical Photography Supervisor
 * Kenneth F. Smith
 * Visual Effects Cameraman
 * Donald Dow
 * Scott Farrar
 * Selwyn Eddy III
 * Assistant Cameramen
 * Peter Daulton
 * Robert Hill
 * Patrick McArdle
 * Ray Gilberti
 * Dave Hanks
 * Toby Heindel
 * Optical Camera Operators
 * James Linn
 * Donald Clark
 * Optical Line-Up
 * Ralph Gordon
 * David Berry
 * General Manager
 * Tom Smith
 * Production Supervisor
 * Warren Franklin
 * Production Coordinator
 * Laurie Vermont
 * Supervising Modelmaker
 * Steve Gawley
 * Additional Spacecraft Design
 * William George
 * Model Makers
 * William Beck
 * Sean Casey
 * Richard Davis
 * Michael Fulmer
 * Ira Keeler
 * Jeff Mann
 * Creature Supervisor
 * David Sosalla
 * Matte Painting Supervisor
 * Michael Pangrazio
 * Matte Artist
 * Frank Ordaz
 * Matte Camera Supervisor
 * Craig Barron
 * Animation Supervisor
 * Charles Mullen
 * Effects Animators
 * Bruce Walters
 * Phillip Norwood
 * Chief Visual Effects Editor
 * Bill Kimberlin
 * Visual Effects Editor
 * Jay Ignaszewski
 * Miniature Pyrotechnics and Fire Effects
 * Ted Moehnke
 * Stage Technicians
 * ILM Stage Crew
 * Still Photography Supervisor
 * Terry Chostner
 * Equipment Engineering Supervisor
 * Michael MacKenzie
 * Michael MacKenzie

The Voyage Home crew

 * On the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Visual Effects Supervisor
 * Ken Ralston
 * Effects Director of Photography
 * Don Dow
 * Visual Effects Art Director
 * Nilo Rodis
 * Optical Supervisor
 * Ralph Gordon
 * Whale Design & Project Supervisor
 * Walt Conti
 * Visual Effects Editor
 * Mike Gleason
 * Matte Painting Supervisor
 * Model Shop Supervisor
 * Jeff Mann
 * Animation Supervisor
 * Ellen Lichtwardt
 * General Manager
 * Warren Franklin
 * Visual Effects Coordinator
 * Erik Jensen
 * Production Manager
 * Ed Hirsch
 * Storyboard Artist
 * John Bell
 * Cameraman Operators
 * Selwyn Eddy III
 * John V. Fante
 * Peter Daulton
 * Toby Heindel
 * Pat Sweeney
 * Assistant Camerapersons
 * Ray Gilberti
 * Jo Carson
 * Pete Kozachic
 * Marty Rosenberg
 * Optical Camera Operators
 * Don Clark
 * Dave McCue
 * Jim Hagedorn
 * Optical Lineup
 * Peg Hunter
 * Bruce Vecchitto
 * Optical Coordinator
 * Lori J. Nelson
 * Lab Technicians
 * Tim Geideman
 * Todd Heindel
 * Whale Mold Supervisor
 * Sean Casey
 * Whale Mechanical Designer
 * Rick Anderson
 * Whale Operators/Puppeteers
 * Tony Hudson
 * Mark Miller
 * Underwater Whale Photography
 * Pete Romano
 * Assistant Effects Editor
 * Terry Peck
 * Matte Artists
 * Frank Ordaz
 * Caroleen Green
 * Sean Joyce
 * Matte Photography
 * Randy Johnson
 * Chief Modelmaker
 * Larry Tan
 * Modelmakers
 * Eric Christensen
 * Paul Kraus
 * Animation Camera Operators
 * Bruce Walters
 * Jay Riddle
 * Rotoscope Artist
 * Ellen Ferguson
 * Visual Consultant
 * Ralph McQuarrie
 * Pyrotechnician
 * Bob Finley, Jr.
 * Stage Technicians
 * Brad Jerrell
 * Dick Dova
 * Mike Olague
 * Production Assistant
 * Ned Gorman
 * Time Travel
 * ILM Computer Graphics
 * Creatures Created by
 * Richard Snell Designs
 * Dale Brady
 * Craig Caton
 * Allen Feuerstein
 * Shannon Shea
 * Brian Wade
 * Nancy Nimoy
 * Nancy Nimoy

The Undiscovered Country crew

 * On the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Visual Effects Supervisor
 * Scott Farrar
 * Visual Effects Editor
 * Thomas R. Bryant
 * Visual Effects Producer
 * Peter Takeuchi
 * Visual Effects Art Directors
 * William George
 * Mark Moore
 * Optical Photography Supervisor
 * Bradley Kuehn
 * Computer Graphics Supervisor
 * Jay Riddle
 * Visual Effects Coordinator
 * Jil-Sheree Bergin
 * Visual Effects Editor
 * Michael McGovern
 * Motion Control Camera Operators
 * Peter Daulton
 * Patrick Sweeny
 * Motion Control Camera Assistants
 * David Hanks
 * Katie O'Neill
 * Plate Camera operator
 * Patrick Turner
 * Plate Camera Assistant
 * Robert Hill
 * Computer Animation
 * Scott Anderson
 * Eric Armstrong
 * John Berton
 * Richard Cohen
 * Wade Howie
 * Joe Letteri
 * Jim Mitchell
 * Joe Pasquale
 * Alex Sieden
 * Computer Graphics Production Supervisor
 * Gail Curry
 * Optical Camera Operators
 * Jon Alexander
 * Donald Clark
 * Jefferey Doran
 * Selwyn Eddy III
 * Keith Johnson
 * Patrick Repola
 * Kenneth Smith
 * Optical Line Up
 * Peg Hunter
 * David Karpman
 * Jennifer Lee
 * Thomas Rosseter
 * John D. Whisnant
 * Debra Wolff
 * Optical Processing
 * Michael Ellis
 * Robert Fernley
 * Nelson Hall
 * Optical Scanning Coordinator
 * Lisa Vaughn
 * Effects Camera Supervisor
 * Bruce Walters
 * Effects Camera Operators
 * Charlie Clavadetscher
 * John Graves
 * Steven Reding
 * Eric Swenson
 * Rotoscope Supervisor
 * Thomas Bertino
 * Rotoscope Artist
 * Kathleen Beeler
 * Rebecca Petrulli-Heskes
 * Sandy Houston
 * Terry Molatore
 * Jack Monogovan
 * Ellen Mueller
 * Carolyn Rendu
 * Animation Supervisor
 * Wes Ford Takahashi
 * Animation Effects Animators
 * Gordon Baker
 * Christor Green
 * Peter Crosman
 * Animation Effects Coordinator
 * Shari Malyn
 * Scanning
 * Joshua Pines
 * Randall K. Bean
 * George Gambatta
 * Assistant Visual Effects Editor
 * Robin Lee
 * Negative Cutter/Projectionist
 * Timothy Greenwood
 * Preston Richards
 * Model Shop Supervisor
 * Lawrence Tan
 * Model Makers
 * Jon Foreman
 * Brian Gernand
 * Jon Goodson, Jr.
 * Jack Haye
 * Richard Miller
 * Alan Peterson
 * Susan Ross (Painter for space dock/ Klingon planet model)
 * Kim Smith
 * Eben Stromquist
 * Paul Theren
 * Wim Van Thilo
 * Charles Wiley
 * Stage
 * Richard Demolski
 * Robert Finley, Jr.
 * Ross Lorente
 * Craig Mohagen
 * David Morton
 * Charles Ray
 * Production Assistants
 * Carol Lee Griswald
 * Alia Almeida Agha
 * Nancy Luckoff
 * Tina Matthies
 * Production Accountant
 * Pam Kaye
 * Matte Painting Effects
 * Matte World, Marin County, California – Subcontractor
 * Supervising Matte Photographer
 * Craig Barron
 * Matte Artist Supervisor
 * Michael Pangrazio
 * Executive of Product Management
 * Krystyna Dekowicz
 * Camera Assistant
 * Paul Oehlke
 * Motion Control Camera
 * Joel Hladecek
 * Camera Operator
 * Wade Childress
 * VCE photographic Effects
 * Peter Kuran
 * Animation Effects
 * Al Magliochetti
 * Kevin Kutchaver
 * Optical Effects Line Up
 * Linda Henry
 * Tim Segulin
 * Optical Printing
 * Rick Hannigan
 * David Tucker
 * VCE Administration
 * Jacqueline Zietlow
 * Additional Digital Compostiting
 * Pacific Data Images
 * Optical Supervisor
 * Les Dittert
 * Animator
 * Barb Meier
 * Production Support
 * Karen Logan

Generations crew

 * On the movie Star Trek Generations, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Visual Effects Supervisor
 * John Knoll
 * Visual Effects Co-Supervisor
 * Alex Seiden
 * Visual Effects Producer
 * Roni McKinley
 * Visual Effects Art Director
 * Bill George
 * Computer Graphics Supervisor
 * John Schlag
 * Visual Effects Coordinators
 * Alia Almeida Agha
 * Giner Theisen
 * Computer Graphics Sequence Supervisor
 * Bart Giovannetti
 * Computer Graphic Artists
 * Joel Aron
 * Barbara Brennan
 * Donald S. Butler
 * Rob Coleman
 * Scott Frankel
 * Peg Hunter
 * Henry LaBounta
 * Stewart W. Lew
 * Mary McCulloch
 * Pat Myers
 * Barbara L. Nellis
 * Doug Mythe
 * Ben Snow
 * Laurence Treweek
 * Dennis Turner
 * Habib Zargarpour
 * Concept Designer
 * Mark Moore
 * Visual Effects Editor
 * Michael McGovern
 * Visual Effects Camera Operator
 * Patrick Sweeny
 * Visual Effects Camera Assistants
 * Katie O'Neill
 * Joe Biggins
 * Visual Effects Chief Lighting Technician
 * Michael Olague
 * Model Supervisor
 * John Goodson
 * Model Department Supervisor
 * Jeff Olson
 * Chief Model Makers
 * Lorne Peterson
 * Jon Foreman
 * Larry Tan
 * Steve Gawley
 * Brian Gernand
 * Model Makers
 * Mark Anderson
 * Charlie Bailey
 * Michael Cummins (Veridian landscape model)
 * Giovanni Donovan
 * Nelson Hall
 * Michael Lynch
 * Scott McNamara
 * Richard Miller
 * Chris Reed
 * Kim Smith
 * Tony Sommers
 * Steve Walton
 * Howie Weed
 * Digital Matte Artists
 * Bill Mather
 * Yusei Uesugi
 * Miniature Crash Sequence Photography Unit
 * Director of Photography
 * Kim Marks
 * Stage Manager
 * Edward Hirsh
 * First Assistant Photographer
 * Pat McArdle
 * Key Rigging Technician
 * David Heron
 * Effects Riggers
 * Geoff Heron
 * Joseph Fulmer
 * First Company Grip
 * Dick Dova
 * Grip
 * Carl Assmus
 * Camera Engineer
 * Duncan Sutherland
 * Supervising Stage Technician
 * Pat Fitzsimmons
 * Optical Supervisor
 * Bruce Vecchitto
 * CG Software Developer
 * Zoran Kacic-Alesic
 * Scanning Supervisor
 * Joshua Pines
 * Scanning Operator
 * Mike Ellis
 * Optical Line-Up
 * Tim Geideman
 * CG Technical Assistants
 * Chris Chaplin
 * Michael Min
 * Systems Support Specialist
 * Ken Corvino
 * CG Production Assistant
 * John Stillman
 * Production Assistant
 * Margaret Lynch
 * Payroll Supervisor
 * Sylte
 * Executive in Charge of Production
 * Patricia Blau
 * ILM President
 * Jim Morris

First Contact crew

 * On the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Visual Effects Producers
 * John Knoll
 * Jeff Olson
 * Associate Visual Effects Supervisor
 * George Murphy
 * Visual Effects Art Director
 * Alex Jaeger
 * CG Supervisor/Animator
 * Habib Zargarpour
 * CG Sequence Supervisor
 * Dennis Turner
 * Digital Effects Artists
 * Joakin Arnesson
 * Mike Bauer
 * Steve Braggs
 * Kyeng-Im Chung
 * Marc Cooper
 * Mitch Deoudes
 * Jeremey Goldman
 * Matt Hendershot
 * Stu Maschwitz
 * Steve Molin
 * Pat Myers
 * Eric Texter
 * Ken Wesley
 * Assistant Digital Effects Artist
 * Doug Smith
 * Sabre Compositing Artists
 * Pablo Helman
 * Chad Taylor
 * Production Coordinators
 * Luke O'Byrne
 * Heather Smith
 * Art Consultant
 * Bill George
 * Digital Matte
 * Noel Brevick
 * Tad Leckman
 * Chris Stillman
 * Digital Animatic Artist
 * Jonathan Rothbart
 * Digital Modelers
 * Larry Tan
 * Paul Theren
 * Digital Compositors
 * Tim Alexander
 * Kathleen Beeler
 * Don Butler
 * Betsy Cox
 * Jeff Doran
 * Scott Frankel
 * Greg Maloney
 * Tom Rosseter
 * Digital Rotoscope and Paint
 * Cathy Burrow
 * Kate Elsen
 * Deb Fought
 * Susan Kelly Andrews
 * Heidi Zabit
 * Digital Matchmovers
 * Selwyn Eddy III
 * Dave Hanks
 * Jodie Maier
 * Patrice D. Saenz
 * Visual Effect Editors
 * Mike McGovern
 * Mike Gleason
 * Assistant Visual Effects Editors
 * Anastasia Emmons
 * Ladd MacPhartland
 * Projectionist
 * Tim Greenwood
 * Optical Supervisor
 * Kenneth Smith
 * Negative Supervisor
 * Film Scanning/Recording Supervisor
 * Joshua Pines
 * Senior Scanning Operator
 * George Gambetta
 * Scanning Operators
 * Todd Mitchell
 * Earl Beyer
 * Optical Scanning Department Coordinator
 * Amanda Micheli
 * Optical Scanning Department PA
 * Jodi Birdsong
 * Negative Line-up
 * Andrea Biklian
 * Timothy Geidman
 * Dirt Removal
 * Nancy Jencks
 * Gaffer
 * Michael Olague (uncredited)
 * Motion Control and Pyrotechnics Unit
 * Visual Effects Director of Photography:
 * Marty Rosenberg
 * Additional Visual Effects Photography
 * Patrick Sweeney
 * Visual Effects Camera Assistant
 * Robert Hill
 * Camera Assistant
 * John Gadzik
 * Model Support
 * Keith London
 * Key Grip/Lighting Technician
 * Brad Jerrell
 * Key Pyrotechnician
 * Geoff Heron
 * Key Grip
 * Bill Barr
 * Electric Gaffer
 * Tim Morgan
 * Best Boy Grip
 * Chuck Biagio
 * Electricians
 * Berny Demolski
 * David Murphy
 * Effects Technicians
 * Adam Bennes
 * Dan Nelson
 * Plate Coordinator
 * David Dranitzke
 * Model Project Supervisor
 * John Goodson
 * Chief Modelmakers
 * Barbara Affonso
 * Jon Foreman
 * Kim Smith
 * Mechanical Engineer
 * Bryan Dewe
 * Modelmakers
 * Rick Anderson
 * Jeff Brewer
 * Giovanni Donovan
 * John Duncan
 * Ira Keeler
 * Ed Miarecki
 * CG Resource Manager
 * Nancy Luckoff
 * CG Production Manager
 * Suzie Vissotzky Tooley
 * CG Resource Assistant
 * Amanda Montgomery
 * Digital Technical Assistants
 * Heidi Schmidt
 * Anthony Pitone
 * CG Software
 * Rodney Bogart
 * Jeffery Yost
 * CG Technical Assistants
 * Dugan Beach
 * Dan Shumaker
 * Christa Starr
 * Lam Van To
 * Electronic Editor
 * Angela Leaper
 * Still Photo
 * David Owen
 * Production Assistant
 * Heather McCurdy
 * ILM Senior Staff
 * Patricia Blau Price
 * Gail Currey
 * Jeff Mann
 * Jim Morris
 * Jim Morris

Star Trek (2009) crew

 * On the movie Star Trek (2009), the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * Visual Effects Supervisor
 * Roger Guyett
 * Visual Effects Editor:
 * Greg Hyman
 * Visual Effects Assistant Editor:
 * Elana Livneh Lessem
 * Visual Effects Supervisor:
 * Russell Earl
 * Animation Supervisor:
 * Paul Kavanagh
 * Visual Effects Producers:
 * Jeff Olson
 * Jill Brooks
 * Associate Visual Effects Supervisor:
 * Eddie Pasquarello
 * Digital Production Supervisor:
 * Michael Dicomo
 * CG Supervisors:
 * Joakim Arnesson
 * Thomas Fejes
 * Hilmar Koch
 * Nigel Sumner
 * Visual Effects Art Director:
 * Alex Jaeger
 * Digital Matte Supervisor:
 * Chris Stoski
 * Digital Model Supervisors:
 * Bruce Holcomb
 * Giovanni Nakpil
 * Viewpaint Supervisor:
 * Ron Woodall
 * Creature Supervisors:
 * James Tooley
 * Karin Cooper
 * Layout Supervisor:
 * Terry Chostner
 * Roto and Paint Supervisor:
 * Beth D'Amato
 * Sequence Supervisors:
 * Richard Bluff
 * Matt Brumit
 * Grady Cofer
 * Brian Connor
 * Jay Cooper
 * Raul Essig
 * Leandro Estebecorena
 * Conny Fauser
 * Gerald Gutschmidt
 * Jeff Grebe
 * Jen Howard
 * Polly Ing
 * Cyrus Jam
 * Katrin Klaiber
 * Francois Lambert
 * Tory Mercer
 * Mark Nettleton
 * Daniel Pearson
 * Jason Rosson
 * Greg Salter
 * Damian Steel
 * Chad Taylor
 * Todd Vaziri
 * John Walker
 * David Weitzberg
 * Animation Sequence Leads:
 * Steve Aplin
 * Colin Benoit
 * Derrick Carlin
 * Senior Production Manager:
 * Jessica Teach
 * Production Manager:
 * Lisa Todd
 * Visual Effects Editor:
 * Martin Allan Kloner
 * Additional Visual Effects Art Direction:
 * Yanick Dusseault
 * Concept Artists:
 * Warren Fu
 * Jerome Moo
 * David Yee
 * Digital Artists:
 * Dan Akers
 * Jon Alexander
 * Okan Ataman
 * Trang Bach
 * Al Bailey
 * Katharine Baird
 * Christopher Balog
 * Daniel Bayona
 * Chris Bayz
 * Kevin Bell
 * Jill Berger
 * Jason Billington
 * Matthew Blackwell
 * Jeremy Bloch
 * Aron Bonar
 * Daniel Bornstein
 * Amanda Braggs
 * Steve Braggs
 * James Brown
 * Kela Cabrales
 * Michaela Calanchini-Carter
 * Owen Calouro
 * Marshall Candland
 * Tami Carter
 * Mark Casey
 * Lanny Cermak
 * Kien Geay Chan
 * Kai Chang
 * Cheah Chin Chi
 * Peter Chesloff
 * Paul Churchill
 * Michael Conte
 * Michael Cordova
 * Christopher Crowell
 * Peter Demarest
 * Eran Dinour
 * Kalene Dunsmoor
 * Selwyn Eddy III
 * Katharine Evans
 * Dan Feinstein
 * Simon Fillat
 * Shine Fitzner
 * Jason Fleming
 * Tim Fortenberry
 * Christian Foucher
 * David Fuhrer
 * Robb Gardner
 * Grantland Gears
 * Tau Gerber
 * Angela Giannoni
 * Timothy Gibbons
 * Bill Gilman
 * David Gottlieb
 * Bryant Griffin
 * David Gutman
 * Christian Haley
 * Tyler Ham
 * Craig Hammack
 * Giles Hancock
 * David Hanks
 * Jeff Hatchel
 * Wendy Hendrickson
 * Neil Herzinger
 * Shawn Hillier
 * David Hirschfield
 * David Hisanaga
 * Sherry Hitch
 * Zain Homer
 * Ryan Hopkins
 * Christopher Horvath
 * David Howe
 * Jiri Jacknowitz
 * Danny Janevski
 * Patrick Jarvis
 * Jeff A. Johnson
 * Stephen Kennedy
 * Michael Kennen
 * Drew Klausner
 * Susan Klausner
 * Justin Kosnikowski
 * Matt Krentz
 * Marshall Krasser
 * Kimberly Lashbrook
 * Asier Hernaez Lavina
 * John Legrande
 * Melissa Lin
 * Noll Linsangan
 * Michael Logan
 * Jennifer Mackenzie
 * Dev Mannemela
 * Patrik Marek
 * David Marsh
 * Tia Marshall
 * Marcel Martinez
 * Didier Mathieu
 * Kevin May
 * Regan McGee
 * Vicky McCann
 * Scott Mease
 * Joseph Metten
 * Christopher James Miller
 * Jack Mongovan
 * Carlos Monzon
 * Katie Morris
 * Michelle Motta
 * Betsy Mueller
 * Timothy Mueller
 * Melissa Mullin
 * Brett Northcutt
 * Ben O'Brien
 * Saro Orfali
 * Akira Orikasa
 * Kevin Page
 * Scott Palleiko
 * Frank Losasso Petterson
 * Phil Pham
 * Zoltan Pogonyi
 * Jason Porter
 * Pedro Pozo
 * Scott Prior
 * Ricardo Ramos
 * Satish Ratakonda
 * Michael Rich
 * Anthony Rispoli
 * Shane Roberts
 * Matthew Robinson
 * Elsa Rodriguez
 * Barry Safley
 * Jeff Saltzman
 * Sean Schur
 * Frederick Schmidt
 * Eric Schweickert
 * Misty Segura
 * Paul Sharpe
 * Amy Shepard
 * John Sigurdson
 * Ken Sjogren
 * Ryan Smith
 * Sam Stewart
 * Russ Sueyoshi
 * David Sullivan
 * Andre Surya
 * Jeff Sutherland
 * Masahiko Tani
 * Stephanie Taubert
 * Alan Travis
 * Alex Tropiec
 * Yusei Uesugi
 * Lee Uren
 * Bruce Vecchitto
 * David Washburn
 * Talmage Watson
 * Ronnie Williams, Jr.
 * Dan Wheaton
 * John Whisnant
 * Jeff Wozniak
 * Mark Youngren
 * Dean Yürke
 * Rita Zimmerman
 * Animators:
 * Michael Bomgat
 * C. Michael Easton
 * Jean-Denis Haas
 * Geoff Hemphill
 * Makoto Koyama
 * Chris Mitchell
 * Erik Morgansen
 * Marla Newall
 * Rick O'Connor
 * Steve Rawlins
 * Greg Towner
 * Delio Tramontozzi
 * Chi Chung Tse
 * Tim Waddy
 * Andy Wong
 * Digital Models and Simulation:
 * Ken Bailey
 * Leigh Barbier
 * Tim Brakensiek
 * Bradford De Caussin
 * Brian Clark
 * Rene Garcia
 * Maurizio Giglioli
 * Bridget Goodman
 * John Goodson
 * Greg Jonkajtys
 * Greg Killmaster
 * Robert Kosai
 * Jean-Claude Langer
 * Scott May
 * James Orara
 * Brian Paik
 * Steve Sauers
 * Renita Taylor
 * Howie Weed
 * Associate Production Managers:
 * Katherine Farrar
 * Chrysta Burton
 * Dale Taylor
 * Production Coordinators:
 * Stacy Bissell
 * Joseph Bell
 * Hui Ling Chang
 * Melanie Cussac
 * Cheng Peishan
 * Production Support:
 * Matt Baume
 * Terran Benveniste
 * Cathleen Carden
 * Marilyn Chan
 * Benjamin Chua
 * Jennifer Coronado
 * Rachel Galbraith
 * George Gambetta
 * John Giang
 * Larry Hoki
 * Christine Loo
 * Alejandro Melendez
 * David Owen
 * Erik Pampel
 * Nikita Patel
 * Andrew Russell
 * Michael Sanders
 * Marci Velando
 * Technical Support:
 * Sean Bittinger
 * Peter Bogatsky
 * Leah Brooks
 * Chantell Brown
 * Brian Cantwell
 * Jayesh Dalal
 * Jason Griger
 * Maura Hogan
 * Mark Kayfez
 * Charlie Ledogar
 * Brian McGraw
 * Kaz Mori
 * Elona Musha
 * Selma Sabera
 * Toh Zijing
 * Research & Development:
 * Tommy Burnette
 * Andre Mazzone
 * Dan Piponi
 * Jeff Smith
 * Jennifer Suter
 * Vivek Verma
 * ILM Executive Producer:
 * Gretchen Libby
 * ILM Senior Staff:
 * Chrissie England
 * Lynwen Brennan
 * Miles Perkins
 * Janet Lewin
 * Vicki Dobbs Beck
 * Curt Miyashiro
 * Uncredited crew
 * Ling Chen – Digital Compositor
 * Robert Hoffmeister – Visual Effects Artist
 * Unconfirmed crew
 * Kai Cheng – Digital Artist
 * Sam Lee – Digital Artist
 * John M. Levin – Layout Artist
 * Ryan Martin – Technical Assistant
 * Benjamin Mattress – Digital Artist
 * Spencer Reynolds – Clonecam Operator
 * Craig Rowe – Digital Compositor
 * James Soukup – On-Set Matchmover
 * Teh-wei Yeh – Digital Artist

Star Trek Into Darkness crew

 * this list is currently incomplete

On the movie Star Trek Into Darkness, the following ILM staffers worked on the visual effects.
 * San Francisco Unit
 * Executive Staff
 * Vicki Beck
 * FX Technical Director
 * Noel Hocquet
 * Lighting & Effects Technical Director
 * Mark Chataway
 * Visual Effects Production Manager
 * Brian Barlettani
 * Digital Production Supervisor
 * Michael Bauer
 * Lead Animator
 * Jean-Denis Haas
 * Animators
 * Stephen King
 * Jeff Vacanti
 * Digital Matte Painter
 * Jérémie Touzery
 * Digital Artist
 * Jessica Alcorn
 * Gianni Aliotti
 * Michael James Allen
 * Natalie Baillie
 * Santhoshi Balasubramanian
 * Chris Bayz
 * Sean Bittinger
 * John Goodson
 * Senior Generalist Artist
 * Jacobo Barreiro
 * Technical Support
 * Alexander Bess
 * Production Assistants
 * Chris Bonura
 * Andrew Ewert
 * Derek A. Johnson
 * Singapore Unit
 * Creature Technical Director
 * Natapon Huangsakuncharoen
 * Senior Texture / Lookdev Artist
 * Michael Peter
 * Texture Painter / Look Development Artist
 * Dongjin Seo
 * ENV / DMP
 * Antoine Goncalves
 * Digital Artists
 * Chin Chee Cheah
 * Siau Yene Ang
 * Azzard Gordon
 * Digital Matte Painters
 * Shuwan Mok
 * Lionel Taillens
 * Lead Compositor
 * Jamie Wood
 * Compositors
 * Santhoshi Bala
 * Woon Chi Ong
 * Amit Sharma
 * Digital Compositor
 * Sam Bassett
 * Lead Assets Artist
 * Adam Walker
 * Texture Artist
 * Daniil Alikov
 * Visual Effects Animator
 * Maureen Seng
 * Hard Surface Modeler & Texturer
 * Ted Moowon Kim
 * Unconfirmed crew
 * Owen Calouro – Layout Artist
 * Christian Castaneda – Digital Compositor
 * Karhoe Chan – Layout Artist
 * Sonia Contreras – Layout Artist
 * Devin Fairbairn – Layout Artist
 * Bridgette Foo – Digital Artist
 * Mei Gangwen – Effects Technical Director
 * Jeff Grebe – FX Technical Director
 * Sherry Hitch – Sequence Supervisor
 * Dean Koonjul – Digital Compositor – Singapore
 * David Larochelle – Compositor
 * Yann Larochette – Senior Compositor
 * Chulev Marko – Modeler / Texture Artist
 * Timothy Mueller – Digimatte Sequence Lead
 *  Jia-Hao Ng – Digital Matte Artist
 * Sheau Horng Ng – Digital Artist
 * Christin Quek – Digital Artist
 * Wajid Raza – Assistant Technical Director
 * Patric Roos – Visual Effects Supervisor – Singapore
 * Ryan Rubi – Creature Technical Director
 * Geoff Sayer – Digital Compositor
 * Lai Lin Tang – Layout Artist
 * Chad Taylor – Sequence Supervisor
 * Dennis Trutanic – Senior Layout Artist
 * Marion Voignier – Digital Artist
 * Vong Yonghow – Lighting Technical Director

General history
ILM has provided "special visual effects" (an intermediate term they themselves invented in the mid-1980s to begin discriminating between visual effects and special effects) for over three hundred films and television series. In addition to the Star Trek films listed above and all of the Star Wars films, their motion picture credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Cocoon, Back to the Future and its sequels (starring Christopher Lloyd), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (also starring Christopher Lloyd), Field of Dreams, Ghostbusters II, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Abyss, The Hunt for Red October, Total Recall, Die Hard 2, Ghost, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park and its sequels, Forrest Gump, Twister, Mission: Impossible, Men in Black and its sequel, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Galaxy Quest, The Mummy, Pearl Harbor, The Bourne Identity, Minority Report, all of the Harry Potter movies, all three Pirates of the Caribbean films, The Day After Tomorrow, The Bourne Supremacy, and the J.J. Abrams-directed Mission: Impossible III. Follow-up projects included Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man for Paramount as well as Speed Racer and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for Warner Bros. Pictures.

A major account ILM has secured from 2006 onward, are the various Marvel Comics franchise movie installments, in size rivaling that of their own Star Wars franchise, and perhaps not that surprising as both franchises are as of 2012 owned by the.

John Knoll is one of the leading members of ILM. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's visual effects coordinator Judy Elkins worked at ILM as an animator on films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Poltergeist. Other past and present members of ILM who worked on Star Trek include Martin Brenneis, Loren Carpenter, Sean Casey, Ed Catmull, Brian Chin, Bob Diepenbrock, John Duncan, Scott Farrar, John Goodson, Mike Fulmer, Steve Gawley, Bill George, Alex Jaeger, Stewart Lew, Jeff Mann, Mark S. Miller, Steve Sanders, and Larry Tan.

ILM was, and is, arguably the most influential VFX company the motion picture industry has ever spawned. From its very inception in 1975 and by being a vigorously pioneering company, ILM continuously pushed the technological possibilities in creating VFX (both produced in the traditional methods, as well as later on in the computerized methods) to their outermost boundaries, either by developing the technologies (computerized motion control photography) themselves, or by making the fullest use as pioneers of new technologies (CGI), developed by others.

In 2005, ILM moved their digital effects departments from Kerner Blvd. in San Rafael, California, to the Presidio in San Francisco. In that year Lucasfilm, Inc. made the conscious decision to split off the traditional visual effects departments from the CGI effects departments, as it decided to concentrate on the latter. The departments responsible for the physical aspects of ILM's visual effects (models and miniatures, pyrotechnics, etc.) remained in the original San Rafael facility and became their own independent company, Kerner Optical. ILM has a non-exclusive agreement with Kerner Optical which allows the two companies to work together on projects, including 2009's Star Trek. 

In 2012, ILM, as part of Lucasfilm Ltd., was acquired by the The Walt Disney Company in the process reuniting the company with Pixar. Pixar started out as the former Lucasfilm company "The Graphics Group", the company that was responsible for the creation of the very first full-textured CGI effect ever shown in the motion picture industry, the Genesis Device effect in The Wrath of Khan.

On 9 May 2018 it was announced that Rob Bredow was appointed CEO of ILM, which he had joined in 2014. Bredow started out his career at VisionArt Design & Animation, the VFX company that provided the first CGI elements, including several from Bredow's hand, for Deep Space Nine in its first four seasons.

Documentaries and special features

 * Computer Graphics in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan – documentary short (1982)
 * Computer Aided Design T363 – documentary short (1987)
 * ILM Special Visual Effects, Star Trek The Next Generation – documentary short (1987)
 * "The Beginning", TNG Season 1 DVD (2002) and Blu-ray (2012) special feature
 * "The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (The Director's Edition) DVD (2002) and Blu-ray (2009) special feature
 * "Space Docks and Birds of Prey", Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Special Edition) DVD (2002) and Blu-ray (2009/2013) special feature
 * "Ken Ralston on the Visual Effects by ILM", Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Special Edition) DVD special/hidden feature (2002)
 * "From Outer Space to the Ocean", Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Special Edition) DVD (2003) and Blu-ray (2009) special feature
 * "Inside ILM: Models And Miniatures" and "Crashing The Enterprise", Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD (2004) and Blu-ray (2009/2013) special features
 * "Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek", Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Blu-ray) special feature (2009/2013)
 * "Industrial Light & Magic – The Next Generation", Star Trek: First Contact (Blu-ray) special feature (2009)