AMPAS Announces Four New Members To Science & Technology Branch

BY: Marjorie Galas, Editor

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has announced four new members that have accepted invitations to join the Science and Technology Branch. The newest inductees include: John Bailey, Gale Anne Hurd, John Knoll and Michael Tronick.

Established in 2003 by the Academy’s Board of Governors, the Science and Technology Council provides a forum for the exchange of information, promotes cooperation among diverse technological interests within the industry, sponsors publications, fosters educational activities and preserves the history of science and technology of motion pictures. Bailey, Hurd, Knoll and Tronick were invited to the council due to the excellence they have consistently brought to their craft as well as dedication to the advancement of motion picture technology, as well as consistent involvement with the Academy.

Bailey is a cinematographer with more than four-and-a-half decades of experience behind the camera. Bailey joined the Academy in 1981 and is currently a governor representing the Cinematographers Branch. He was elected to a vice president post this year. Bailey’s credits include: “American Gigolo,” “Ordinary People,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “Groundhog Day,” “As Good as It Gets,” “Country Strong” and “The Way, Way Back.”

Hurd is a producer and CEO of her own production company, Valhalla Motion Pictures. A former Academy governor, Hurd has chaired the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Committee, Investment Committee, Producers Branch Executive Committee and Festival Grants Committee. She has been a member of the Producers Branch since 1987. Her credits include such films as “Aliens,” “The Terminator” trilogy, “The Abyss,” “Armageddon” and “The Incredible Hulk,” as well as the AMC hit television series “The Walking Dead.”

Knoll is the chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic, where he started out as a technical assistant in 1986. In 1988, he joined forces with his brother Thomas to create the groundbreaking Photoshop image-editing software. Knoll went on to supervise the visual effects on more than 20 feature films, earning Academy Award® nominations for his work on “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” “Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones” and the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films; he took home an Oscar® for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” An Academy member since 1997, Knoll is currently a governor representing the Visual Effects Branch.

Tronick is a film editor who began his career as a music editor in the late 1970s. He served both roles for the 1984 feature “Streets of Fire,” and by the end of the decade, he had turned his attention to film editing full-time. His feature credits include “Midnight Run,” “Days of Thunder,” “Scent of a Woman” “True Romance,” “Remember the Titans,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Hairspray” and “2 Guns.” Tronick currently serves as an Academy governor representing the Film Editors Branch. He has been an Academy member since 1979.

The inclusion of the newest members brings the Science and Technology Council roster to 25 members. The 2014–2015 Council co-chairs are two members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch: Craig Barron, an Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor and former Academy governor; and Paul Debevec, chief visual officer at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and a lead developer of Light Stage, an image capture and rendering technology for which he received an Academy Scientific and Engineering Award in 2009. The remaining members include: Wendy Aylsworth, Rob Bredow, Lisa Churgin, Elizabeth Cohen, Academy governor Richard Edlund, Doug Greenfield, Don Hall, John Hora, Jim Houston, Rob Hummel, Randal Kleiser, Bev Pasterczyk, Josh Pines, Rick Sayre, Milt Shefter, Dave Stump, Steve Sullivan, Academy governor Bill Taylor and Beverly Wood.

To learn more about the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, please visit: www.oscars.org