Phil Tippett

Phil Tippett is the founder and namesake of Tippett Studio. His varied career in visual effects has spanned more than 30 years and includes 2 Academy Awards, 6 Academy Award nominations, 1 BAFTA, 4 BAFTA nominations, 2 Emmys and the advent of modern digital effects in motion pictures.

Phil launched his impressive career with Industrial Light and Magic, heading animation teams through Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, while also designing iconic characters such as Jabba the Hut and the Rancor Pit Monster. Tippett Studios was formed shortly after, drawing on Phil’s wealth of experience to breathe life into projects such as RoboCop, Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Ted.

Currently, Phil is continuing his oversight in the creation of transforming werewolves for Summit Entertainment’s finale to the wildly popular Twilight Saga movie adaptations. His next project is a personal film called MAD GOD that features traditional stop motion animation. It was fan-funded through the website kickstarter.com.

Phil’s roots in stop motion, modeling and practical effects and his ability to use this foundation in conjunction with developing technologies has made him one of a handful of artists whose careers have spanned the transition of visual effects from largely practical to digital. In this way he is a great teacher and mentor, passing on the tradition of mentorship given to him in the early part of his career.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Morley