Greg Butler (visual effects supervisor)

Gregory S. Butler (born August 18, 1971, Suffield, Connecticut) is an Academy Award-winning American visual effects supervisor. He graduated from Suffield High School in 1989 and afterwards entered Hampshire College. Despite his initial plans to study history, a work-study job with the audiovisual equipment in the library made him interested in film production.^[1] Butler graduated in 1993 with a major in film, television and theater design.^[2] Afterwards he moved to California to work for Industrial Light and Magic for 9 months, where after intern work he managed to become an assistant in the effects department, starting with assistant credits in The Mask and Forrest Gump. Following a job at Rocket Science Games until the company's bankruptcy in 1996, Butler went to Tippett Studio and did effects work in Starship Troopers and My Favorite Martian, rising up to a technical director job, and Cinesite for Practical Magic. While reluctant at the requirement of moving to New Zealand, Butler was convinced by his writer-actor brother to jump at the opportunity of working for Weta Digital in The Lord of the Rings.^[3] Among his achievements was working on the creation of Gollum.^[4] for which he was awarded a Visual Effects Society Award.^[5]

Butler also worked as a computer graphics supervisor on I, Robot before an invitation to work as an effects supervisor for the Moving Picture Company, in London.^[6] He later moved to MPC's, Vancouver office.^[7] On January 24, 2012, he won a BAFTA^[5] and was nominated for an Oscar for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

He became a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2012.^[8]

In 2020, he received his second BAFTA win^[5] and Academy Award nomination, and first win, for Best Visual Effects, for the 2019 film, 1917, at the 92nd Academy Awards.^[9]

After leaving MPC, he spent time working for Method Studios, where he worked as a VFX supervisor on feature, episodic, and advertising projects, including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for Amazon.^[10][11]

In June 2022 he began working for VFX and animation studio DNEG.^[5]

References

1. "Alumni Profile: Gregory Butler 89F". Hampshire College. Retrieved February 11, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. Slater, Martha (December 13, 2001). "Son of Local Man Works On New 'Lord of the Rings' Films". The White River Valley Herald. Randolph, Vermont. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
3. Hornblow, Deborah (January 21, 2002). "His Lucky Movie Career". Hartford Courant. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
4. Hall, Lizabeth (December 11, 2013). "He gave life to Gollum". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
5. Tangcay, Jazz; Chapman, Wilson; Dore, Shalini; Burton, Carson (June 23, 2022). "DNEG Hires Eric Brevig and Greg Butler as Visual Effects Supervisors – Film News in Brief". Variety. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
6. May, Tom (May 12, 2014). "Masters of CG: MPC's Greg Butler on getting VFX right". Creative Bloq. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
7. Roy, Kathryn (March 25, 2012). "Suffield native Greg Butler in running for Academy Award for 'Harry Potter' visual effects". The Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
8. Makinen, Julie (June 29, 2012). "Motion picture academy invites 176 new members". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
9. Ramos, Dino-Ray (February 9, 2020). "James Corden And Rebel Wilson Present '1917' With Oscar For Best Visual Effects In Full 'Cats' Attire". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
10. Sarto, Dan (June 23, 2022). "DNEG Adds Oscar-Winning Talent to VFX Team". Animation World Network. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
11. Tangcay, Jazz (September 1, 2022). "'Rings of Power' Used 20 VFX Studios, Nearly 10,000 VFX Shots to Revive Middle-earth (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.

External links

• Greg Butler at IMDb