Ken Ralston

Visual effects pioneer Ken Ralston is Senior Visual Effect Supervisor and Creative Head at the Academy Award–winning visual effects studio Sony Pictures Imageworks. For more than three decades Ralston has taken audiences to unimaginable worlds with his intuitive vision and unparalleled mastery of visual effects. Ken most recently completed supervising visual effects at Sony Pictures Imageworks on director Tim Burton’s stunning film, Alice in Wonderland (3D), for Disney.

Many groundbreaking projects at Sony Pictures Imageworks have benefited from Ralston’s artistic acumen including his many collaborations with Academy Award® winning director Robert Zemeckis on the epic Beowulf (3D), The Polar Express (3D) and Cast Away. Prior to joining Imageworks, Ralston placed his artistic and technical stamp on the films at Industrial Light & Magic. Breaking technological ground, Ralston played a pivotal role in advancing the company’s renown.

Ralston has earned an impressive five Academy Awards including a Special Achievement Oscar for the visual effects in the 1983 phenomenon, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. In addition to this, he received Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for his work as visual effects supervisor on Forrest Gump (which was also awarded the Oscar for Best Picture), Death Becomes Her, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Ron Howard’s Cocoon.

Ralston’s other notable film credits include visual effects supervisor on The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Star Trek IV: The Vovage Home, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Dragonslayer, for which he was also nominated for an Oscar, and all three films from the Back to the Future trilogy, earning an Academy Award® nomination for best visual effects on Back to the Future Part II.

Ralston’s career began at the seminal commercial animation and visual effects company, Cascade Pictures in Hollywood, where he worked on over 150 memorable advertising campaigns in the early 1970s. He built sets, sculpted models, animated puppets, created optical effects and stop motion animation for such iconic commercial characters as Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and the Jolly Green Giant.

Filmography

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) (assistant cameraman: miniature and optical effects unit)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (effects cameraman: miniature and optical effects unit)
• Dragonslayer (1981) (dragon supervisor: ILM)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (special visual effects supervisor: ILM)
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) (visual effects)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) (visual effects supervisor)
• Cocoon (1985) (visual effects supervisor)
• Back to the Future (1985) (visual effects supervisor: Bafta)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) (effects supervisor)
• The Golden Child (1986) (visual effects supervisor)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (visual effects supervisor)
• Back to the Future Part II (1989) (visual effects supervisor)
• Dreams (1990) (visual effects supervisor)
• Back to the Future Part III (1990) (visual effects supervisor)
• The Rocketeer (1991) (visual effects supervisor, second unit director)
• Death Becomes Her (1992) (visual effects supervisor, second unit director)
• Forrest Gump (1994) (visual effects supervisor)
• The Mask (1994) (visual effects consultant)
• The American President (1995) (visual effects supervisor)
• Jumanji (1995) (visual effects supervisor)
• Phenomenon (1996) (visual effects supervisor: SPI)
• Michael (1996) (visual effects supervisor: SPI)
• Contact (1997) (visual effects supervisor)
• Patch Adams (1998) (visual effects guru)
• Cast Away (2000) (visual effects supervisor)
• America's Sweethearts (2001) (visual effects consultant)
• Men in Black II (2002) (visual effects supervisor: SPI)
• The Forgotten (2004) (visual effects consultant)
• The Polar Express (2004) (visual effects supervisor)
• Beowulf (2007) (visual effects design consultant, special effects)
• Alice in Wonderland (2010) (senior visual effects supervisor)

External links

• Ken Ralston at the Internet Movie Database