9-14-99

Contacts:
Pat Miller, Lectures, (515) 294-9935
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917

STAR WARS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR TO SPEAK AT ISU SEPT. 23

AMES, Iowa -- Gonzalo Escudero, a technical director with Industrial Light & Magic and technical director of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace," will give a multimedia presentation at 8 p.m., Sept. 23, in the Sun Room/South Ballroom of the Memorial Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Escudero's talk "The Making of Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace" will be on the creation of the digital effects of the movie. Escudero has also been involved in the production of several other prominent movies, such as "The Mummy," "Saving Private Ryan," "Small Soldiers" and "Speed 2: Cruise Control." He is currently involved in the production of a new movie called "Galaxy Quest."

Escudero was born in Madrid, Spain, where he earned the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture and owned his own computer graphics animation studio. He won the Spanish Academy Award for the best visual effects for his work on the movie "El dia de la Bestia" in 1996, as well as several awards for commercials.

Escudero's presentation is part of Iowa State's year-long celebration, Advancing Technology to Become the Best.

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