John Knoll
John Knoll is an American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic. One of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop, he has also worked as visual effects supervisor on the Star Wars prequels and the 1997 special editions of the original trilogy. He also served as ILM's visual effects supervisor for Star Trek Generations and ', as well as the ' series. Along with Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, Knoll and the trio's work on ' earned them the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Knoll has been praised by directors James Cameron, Gore Verbinski, Guillermo del Toro, and Brad Bird. Del Toro, who worked with Knoll for the first time on Pacific Rim, stated "He basically has the heart of a kid and the mind of a scientist, and that's a great combination."
Knoll is also the inventor of Knoll Light Factory, a lens flare generating software inspired by his work at Industrial Light and Magic.
Knoll was the Computer Graphics Project Designer on The Abyss, an achievement which earned ILM its tenth Oscar, and worked on two Star Trek episodes: 's pilot episode and the ' episode "Explorers |Explorers".
Knoll had a cameo appearance in ' as a fighter pilot.
John Knoll helped pitch the story of Rogue One, a feature film set in the Star Wars series, and worked as writer and executive producer of the film.
At the 2019 Oscars, John and his brother Thomas were awarded a Scientific and Engineering Award for the original architecture, design and development of Photoshop.
Feature films
| Year | Title | Other notes |
| 2021 | Jungle Cruise | visual effects supervisor |
| 2019 | 6 Underground | additional visual effects supervisor |
| 2019-present | The Mandalorian | additional visual effects supervisor |
| 2018 | Aquaman | production and technical support |
| 2018 | The Other Side Of The Wind | visual effects supervisor |
| 2018 | Ready Player One | visual effects production |
| 2016 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | visual effects supervisor, executive producer, story |
| 2013 | Pacific Rim | visual effects supervisor |
| 2011 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 2011 | Hugo | visual effects supervisor |
| 2011 | Rango | visual effects supervisor |
| 2011 | Super 8 | digital artist |
| 2009 | Avatar | visual effects supervisor |
| 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | digital artist |
| 2009 | Confessions of a Shopaholic | visual effects supervisor |
| 2008 | Speed Racer | visual effects supervisor |
| 2007 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 2006 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 2005 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 2003 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 2002 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 2000 | Mission to Mars | visual effects supervisor |
| 1999 | Deep Blue Sea | visual effects supervisor |
| 1999 | ' | visual effects supervisor, onscreen cameo |
| 1996 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 1996 | ' | visual effects supervisor |
| 1994 | Star Trek Generations | visual effects supervisor |
| 1994 | Baby's Day Out | visual effects supervisor |
| 1991 | Hudson Hawk | visual effects supervisor |
| 1991 | Hook | visual effects supervisor |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | visual effects supervisor |
| 1990 | Spaced Invaders | visual effects supervisor |
| 1989 | The Abyss | CG supervisor |
| 1988 | Willow | motion control camera operator |
| 1987 | Innerspace | motion control camera operator |
| 1987 | Empire of the Sun | motion control camera operator |
| 1987 | ' | motion control camera operator |
| 1986 | motion control camera operator | |
| 1986 | Captain EO | motion control camera operator |
Books
- John Knoll, J. W. Rinzler: Creating the Worlds of Star Wars: 365 Days with CDROM; Book about the Making of the Star Wars Saga;