Digital FX pioneer Douglas Trumbull is planning a sci-fi film in the Berkshires that he hopes will restart the fledgling special-effects industry here that never quite got off the ground.
The news was reported last Wednesday in the Journal of New England Technology. Trumbull, who left Hollywood for the Berkshires three decades ago, continues to operate out of his Southfield studio. But many of the special-effects producers who followed him closed up shop during the 1990s.
He told the Journal:
With luck, the project will inspire new interest in the visual effects cluster in the Berkshires, and perhaps lead a broader film and media industry to take shape in the area, Trumbull said. "People find it so stunningly better than living in New York or LA," he said. "Once you get someone to come and work, they tend to bring their wives and kids. And they all fall in love with the community and don't want to leave."
Last year, Jeff Kleiser of Synthespian Studios in North Adams indicated he was mulling an animated feature that could create hundreds of jobs and help boost the FX industry in the Berkshires.
Trumbull is best known for his groundbreaking work on "2001: A Space Odyessy" and "Blade Runner." The FX maestro talked about his work on "Blade Runner" a couple of years ago at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington before a screening of the restored film.
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Digital FX pioneer Douglas Trumbull is planning a sci-fi film in the Berkshires that he hopes will restart the fledgling special-effects industry here that never quite got off the ground.