A celebration of the talent and legacy of important VFX projects with the creators who made them happen.
Auteur director Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers' self-aware satire went largely unrecognized by critics when it was originally released in 1997 but fans immediately latched onto to Verhoeven’s unabashedly loud, chaotic, and violent film, notable for its marriage of CG and practical effects, created by Tippett Studio and Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. respectively.
In celebration of Starship Troopers’ 25th anniversary, we delve into the making of the film’s practical effects with Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. co-founder Alec Gillis who shares insights into everything from the design and build process for some of the film’s most notables bugs, to shooting on location and showdowns with the director.
Image Credit: © Columbia Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
SPEAKER
Alec Gillis
Co-Founder of // Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.
(Tremors, Alien 3, It, Bright)
Alec Gillis grew up watching genre movies. Watching is a bit of an understatement. He devoured them. Early memories of movies such as Zulu! and Planet Of The Apes inspired Alec to make his own backyard epics. A childhood spent creating monsters in his mother’s garage led him to a job with Roger Corman at age 19. There he met film newcomer James Cameron, with whom he worked on several low-budget sci-fi films under the Corman shingle.
In 1985, Alec was brought on to Aliens by Cameron. On that film he became a Creature Effects Supervisor for Stan Winston. After racking up credits on top ‘80’s creature films like Predator, Alec left Stan Winston’s and co-founded Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. with another Winston alum, Tom Woodruff, jr.
After A.D.I.’s first feature Tremors, business boomed and the duo won accolades for their work, including Academy Award nominations for Alien 3 and Starship Troopers. Death Becomes Her earned them an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and they have gone on to contribute to many of the most recognized genre films of the last 3 decades. The pair’s work has garnered multiple other awards such as the British Academy Award, multiple Saturn awards, and even a Golden Doozie Award.
Alec directed Harbinger Down in 2015. The film was boasted all Practical Creature FX and was an homage to the films of the ‘80’s that Alec worked on in his early career. Alec is also a 3 times published author.
MODERATOR
Marina Antunes
Festival Director, Film Critic, Podcaster // Spark CG Society
Marina joined the Spark Computer Graphics Society as Festival Director in 2014. Throughout her tenure, the festival has grown into Western Canada’s premiere animation festival, featuring a number of specialty programming including the “Made in Canada” program celebrating Canadian creators, “Mother of a Medium” featuring works from female filmmakers, and “Spotlight on France” which celebrates the best of French animation. In 2019, the SPARK ANIMATION FESTIVAL became Academy Award ® accredited, the only festival in British Columbia to hold that distinction.
Marina is also a writer and podcaster with over 15 years of experience, first on a personal blog followed by a decade-long tenure on the now-retired Row Three. In 2008 she joined the writing staff at Quiet Earth, becoming Editor-In-Chief in 2014, a role she still holds. Over the years, she has also produced and hosted a number of podcasts including Before the Dawn, a long-running podcast on the Twilight franchise, Girls on Pop, a podcast on film and popular entertainment from women’s perspective and After the Credits, bi-monthly film podcast with nearly 300 episodes.
Marina is a member of the Online Film Critics Society, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Visual Effects Society is the President of the Vancouver SIGGRAPH chapter, and has served on juries for several film festivals including the DOXA, St. Louis International Film Festival, and the Whistler Film Festival.
A celebration of the talent and legacy of important VFX projects with the creators who made them happen.
Auteur director Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers' self-aware satire went largely unrecognized by critics when it was originally released in 1997 but fans immediately latched onto to Verhoeven’s unabashedly loud, chaotic, and violent film, notable for its marriage of CG and practical effects, created by Tippett Studio and Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. respectively.
In celebration of Starship Troopers’ 25th anniversary, we delve into the making of the film’s practical effects with Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. co-founder Alec Gillis who shares insights into everything from the design and build process for some of the film’s most notables bugs, to shooting on location and showdowns with the director.
Image Credit: © Columbia Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
SPEAKER
Alec Gillis
Co-Founder of // Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.
(Tremors, Alien 3, It, Bright)
Alec Gillis grew up watching genre movies. Watching is a bit of an understatement. He devoured them. Early memories of movies such as Zulu! and Planet Of The Apes inspired Alec to make his own backyard epics. A childhood spent creating monsters in his mother’s garage led him to a job with Roger Corman at age 19. There he met film newcomer James Cameron, with whom he worked on several low-budget sci-fi films under the Corman shingle.
In 1985, Alec was brought on to Aliens by Cameron. On that film he became a Creature Effects Supervisor for Stan Winston. After racking up credits on top ‘80’s creature films like Predator, Alec left Stan Winston’s and co-founded Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. with another Winston alum, Tom Woodruff, jr.
After A.D.I.’s first feature Tremors, business boomed and the duo won accolades for their work, including Academy Award nominations for Alien 3 and Starship Troopers. Death Becomes Her earned them an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and they have gone on to contribute to many of the most recognized genre films of the last 3 decades. The pair’s work has garnered multiple other awards such as the British Academy Award, multiple Saturn awards, and even a Golden Doozie Award.
Alec directed Harbinger Down in 2015. The film was boasted all Practical Creature FX and was an homage to the films of the ‘80’s that Alec worked on in his early career. Alec is also a 3 times published author.
MODERATOR
Marina Antunes
Festival Director, Film Critic, Podcaster // Spark CG Society
Marina joined the Spark Computer Graphics Society as Festival Director in 2014. Throughout her tenure, the festival has grown into Western Canada’s premiere animation festival, featuring a number of specialty programming including the “Made in Canada” program celebrating Canadian creators, “Mother of a Medium” featuring works from female filmmakers, and “Spotlight on France” which celebrates the best of French animation. In 2019, the SPARK ANIMATION FESTIVAL became Academy Award ® accredited, the only festival in British Columbia to hold that distinction.
Marina is also a writer and podcaster with over 15 years of experience, first on a personal blog followed by a decade-long tenure on the now-retired Row Three. In 2008 she joined the writing staff at Quiet Earth, becoming Editor-In-Chief in 2014, a role she still holds. Over the years, she has also produced and hosted a number of podcasts including Before the Dawn, a long-running podcast on the Twilight franchise, Girls on Pop, a podcast on film and popular entertainment from women’s perspective and After the Credits, bi-monthly film podcast with nearly 300 episodes.
Marina is a member of the Online Film Critics Society, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Visual Effects Society is the President of the Vancouver SIGGRAPH chapter, and has served on juries for several film festivals including the DOXA, St. Louis International Film Festival, and the Whistler Film Festival.
