San Rafael, Calif. - Kerner Optical LLC, a new production company based in San Rafael, has officially opened for business. The company recently completed a deal finalizing its purchase from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a Lucasfilm Ltd. company.
San Rafael, Calif. - Kerner Optical LLC, a new production company based in San Rafael, has officially opened for business. The company recently completed a deal finalizing its purchase from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a Lucasfilm Ltd. company.
Kerner Optical will be managed by Mark Anderson, who serves as the company’s CEO, and several of his colleagues, all veterans of ILM with many decades of experience between them. The new company includes a model and creature shop; special effects and pyrotechnical effects; fully operational stages for interior and exterior filming; stereoscopic 3D and blue/green screen capabilities; and customizable camera, motion control, lighting and grip packages.
Kerner Optical was founded by Anderson, Kevin Duncan, and Yuska Siuicki. Anderson worked at ILM for 18 years, beginning as a modelmaker and most recently as director of physical production. Siuicki is owner of Technology Application Specialists with 12 years of experience in stereoscopic 3D hardware and software development for film production, broadcast, and gaming. Duncan is a Denver businessman who is supporting the purchase of Kerner Optical from ILM and who also runs a film production company, Front Range Films, with his partner James Seale.
The company is based on several former departments within ILM which were known as its physical production group. Much of the staff is made up of artists and technicians from these departments who have experience in dealing with the various aspects of working in film, television, commercials, music videos, and games. A non-exclusive agreement between ILM and Kerner Optical has already provided Kerner Optical with work on several upcoming projects, including the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, and Evan Almighty.
Housed in newly remodeled facilities, Kerner Optical is based at a portion of the San Rafael location that ILM previously occupied, before its move last year to the Letterman Digital Arts Center, a state-of-the-art studio at The Presidio in San Francisco.