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NC State Grads Work Magic
NC S t ate Grads Work Magic
After getting his start running errands in the art department of George Lucas’s special effects company Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Jonathan Harb (BID 1995) now supervises the ILM Digital Matte Department, and has been instrumental in bringing other NC State graduates to the company. “Watching The Empire Strikes Back and Big Trouble in Little China about a million times and poring over the ‘Making of’ Star Wars books” piqued Harb’s interest in special effects. “Fortunately, the best place on this planet to learn visual effects is Industrial Light and Magic,” says Harb, “and the opportunities here are endless.”
Patience and persistence pay off in the industry, as Harb’s own experience illustrates.
In the summer of 1995, Harb participated in Professor Percy Hooper’s Model Building Workshop. Hooper invited ILM’s Lorne
Peterson and Charlie Bailey to visit the workshop.
Harb calls Peterson and Bailey “veteran model makers…these are the guys that built the original Deathstar trench, Millennium Falcon, etc., from the first Star Wars films, and countless film icons since. I managed to show some work to them both, then kept in touch by mail.” Through these contacts, Harb was able to get an interview with ILM. He was hired as a production assistant in the company’s Art Department.
“After throwing some things into my truck and driving across the country, I started at ILM 13 days after graduating from State, on January 2, 1996,” Harb says.
Favorite aspects of his job include “creating realistic images of things that do not exist in reality, and identifying, guiding, and learning from people who can do the same.”
Jonathan Harb (BID 1995) Bryant Griffin (BID 2003) Barry Williams (BAD, BID 2003)
Harb began creating concept art soon after his start in the Art Department, and in 1998 moved into the Digital Matte Department, a unit that specializes in backgrounds and environments. He was leading projects in the Matte Department by 2000, and in 2002 he took over supervision of the group.
Crediting Art + Design Department Head Chandra Cox with helping him attract promising employees, Harb and ILM Recruiter Lala Gavgavian included NC State on a trip in November 2002, which was NC State’s first time on ILM’s recruiting list.
Harb says the “hardest people to find are those with a wide variety of skill sets. Artists that have strong traditional skills, coupled with solid, diverse digital skills are rare in the effects industry.”
During this trip, Harb met two promising talents at NC State — Bryant Griffin (BID 2003) and Barry Williams (BAD, BID 2003). Patience and persistence paid off for Griffin and Williams just as they had for Harb. Griffin, a Charlotte native, learned about the College of Design through a contest he won while he was a student at the N.C. School of Mathematics and Science in Durham. In addition to the $200 he received as a prize, he got the opportunity to take an idea from concept to completion with Professor Charles Joyner. Introduced by Joyner to the world of design and the numerous career paths available, his view of a potential career path was reshaped.
“I broke into the industry with a lot of nagging, persistence and the charity of Jonathan Harb. In November of 2002 I gathered all of my work and interviewed with Jonathan and Lala Gavgavian during (their) recruiting trip to NCSU. I received kind feedback, but no magic call,” says Griffin.
Determined to stay on task, Griffin “prepared a portfolio for ILM and Lucas Arts for the summer internship program [in 2002], but still no call. In the fall of 2003 I noticed a flyer with information about the Pumpkin King Scholarship and noticed that the donor was Jonathan Harb.” “I didn’t submit my work to win the scholarship,” says Griffin. “I just wanted to get my new work in front of Jonathan and begin a dialogue that would turn into some opportunity months or years down the line.”
“I won the scholarship and quickly started nagging professor Chandra Cox for Jonathan’s contact information. Chandra worked her magic and fortunately for me, Jonathan was willing to gamble and ILM was in a position to hire artists,” says Griffin. Griffin grew up seeing The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, both Lucas films. “I’m currently working on Star Wars Episode Three – a dream come true,” says Griffin. Griffin says his education at NC State “comes down to the people. All of the professors have so much passion and energy about what they do. They are accomplished individuals. It holds true at ILM, too. I just try to soak in as much as I can.”
Barry Williams recalls that after he graduated in the fall last year, he freelanced for a few months and Harb called him to come in for an interview as an apprentice. “That same enthusiasm that Bryant had helped me get a job,” said Williams.
Giving credit to Professors Susan Toplikar and Chandra Cox, Williams says his training specifically in the basics — light, color, and other fundamental design processes, and basic knowledge of some software help him with his current work. According to Williams, industrial design internships and working on outside public art projects really helped him get his feet wet.
“The depth of talent that others have around me and the excitement of seeing something I’ve worked on projected on ‘the big screen’” interests Williams most about his work at ILM.
The list of films that Harb, Griffin and Williams have worked on recently include: Star Wars Episode Three, XXX State of the Union, War of the Worlds, The Day After Tomorrow, Harry Potter III: The Prisoner of Azkaban, Van Helsing, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Peter Pan. Harb is happy to have had a role in Griffin’s and Williams’ success. “When you make it to a place where you can help others and do so, some people figure that as selfless,” Harb says, “but it’s just as much selfish. You feel great when you’re able to see positive results from something you’ve worked hard for and contribute directly to. Plus, if you always give, you’ll always have.”
Giving back is something Harb has done personally by establishing the Pumpkin King Scholarship, and professionally by introducing ILM to NC State students and graduates.
