VFX pioneer Scott Ross, founder of Digital Domain

As a pioneer in digital visual effects, Scott Ross was instrumental
in the advancement of VFX in Hollywood. He led groundbreaking work
at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and co-founded Digital Domain
with James Cameron and Stan Winston. Scott looks back on his
career, discusses systemic problems within the VFX industry, and
possible ways to fix them. Scott began his career in sound
recording for television and film in the San Francisco Bay Area for
a video production company, becoming president of the San Francisco
office. The success of Star Wars ignited a space race for studios,
and ILM became the holy grail for VFX artists. “I get a phone call
from a headhunter who says, 'Hey, Lucasfilm is looking for somebody
to head up production operations at Industrial Light and Magic.'
And my head exploded," says Scott. "If you're going to live in San
Francisco, you want to work at Lucasfilm. That's how I got hired.”
At the time, ILM was creating visual effects for Who Framed Roger
Rabbit. His experience in the nascent digital video industry sped
up the process, and by 1989, ILM developed a technique to work in a
digital medium for making special effects. While Scott was at ILM,
the company won five Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects.
However, ILM's creative spirit began to wane under corporate
pressure. "It turned into cubicles and whatnot," says Ross,
favoring a "work hard, play hard" environment. This philosophy
fueled his decision to leave and co-found Digital Domain in 1993.
“When I started Digital Domain, we're going to play hard, work hard
and party hard. And that's the culture that I wanted to create. I
think generally we did a pretty good job of it.” Digital Domain
became a leading VFX company, creating visual effects for films
such as Cameron's Titanic. The VFX industry is notoriously
troubled, with visual effects houses underbidding on projects to
stay competitive and creating dismal working conditions for
employees. “There are certain companies that the only way that they
could stay alive is by taking advantage of their employees, not
paying them overtime, not having health care,” says Scott. “That
really comes as a result of the way the clients, studios and the
directors deal with the visual effects companies.” He blames a
producer mentality that prioritizes squeezing VFX houses rather
than fostering a sustainable industry. “The visual effects industry
workers need advocates for themselves. Currently, they have no one
fighting for them. They need an international trade association
that changes the business model.” Today, effects workers continue
to voice their need to form a union. The rise of AI further
complicates the picture, with some fearing job replacement. Find
Scott Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottross/ Instagram:
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