Bill Westenhofer is an American

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

supervisor. He worked for

Rhythm and Hues Studios Rhythm & Hues Studios was an American visual effects and animation company founded in 1987, that received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1995 for ''Babe (film), Babe'', in 2007 for ''The Golden Compass (film), The Golden Compass'', ...

until its closure in 2013.

Early life and education

His hometown is

Brookfield, Connecticut Brookfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, situated within the southern foothills of the Berkshires, Berkshire Mountains. The population was 17,528 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The t ...

, where he graduated from Brookfield High School in 1986. He then earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering from

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal-arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts a ...

in 1990. Westenhofer also received his master's degree at the

George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. is a technical school which specializes in engineering, technology, communications, and transportation. The school is located on the main ...

in 1995, where he studied the use of dynamics in physically based animation.

Career

In 1994, he joined Rhythm & Hues as a technical director, and Westenhofer's lighting and effects animation work was featured in ''

Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' is a 1995 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It is the third installment of the ''Batman'' film series, acting as a standalone sequel to ''Batman Returns''. Directe ...

'' and numerous commercials. He was promoted to CG supervisor for '' Speed 2: Cruise Control'', and continued in that role for ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

'', ''

Mouse Hunt ''Mouse Hunt'' is a 1997 American slapstick black comedy film written by Adam Rifkin and directed by Gore Verbinski in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken. The film fol ...

'', ''

Kazaam ''Kazaam'' () is a 1996 American musical fantasy comedy film directed by Paul Michael Glaser, written by Christian Ford and Roger Soffer based on a story by Glaser, and starring Shaquille O'Neal as the title character, a 5,000-year-old genie w ...

'' and ''

Waterworld ''WaterWorld'', also known as ''WaterWorld: A Live Sea War Spectacular'', is a stunt show attraction based on the 1995 film '' Waterworld'' found at Universal Studios Hollywood (1995), Universal Studios Japan (2001), Universal Studios Singap ...

''. His other VFX supervisor credits include ''

Elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

'', ''

The Rundown ''The Rundown'' (known internationally as ''Welcome to the Jungle'') is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by Peter Berg and written by James Vanderbilt and R.J. Stewart from a story by Stewart. It follows an aspiring chef working as ...

'', ''

Stuart Little 2 ''Stuart Little 2'' is a 2002 American live-action/animated comedy film loosely based on E.B. White's novel ''Stuart Little''. Directed by Rob Minkoff and screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, the film stars Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, and Jonathan ...

'', ''

Men in Black II ''Men in Black II'' (stylized as ''MIIB'') is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film based on the Marvel Comics series of a similar name based on the conspiracy theory. Produced by Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in ass ...

'', '' Cats & Dogs'', '' Along Came a Spider'', ''

Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

'', ''

Stuart Little ''Stuart Little'' is a 1945 American children's novel by E. B. White. It was White's first children's book, and became recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the artist Garth Williams, also his f ...

'', and '' Babe: Pig in the City''. In 2005, Westenhofer supervised a team of 400 digital artists on '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', which was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...

. Later he would win both the BAFTA and the Academy Award for the 2007 release '' The Golden Compass'', and 2012's ''

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. After a ...

'' in 2013. During the Academy Awards, when Westenhofer brought up Rhythm and Hues' financial issues during his speech, the microphone was cut off, which prompted many protests by the visual effects industry. He had intended to say:

"What I was trying to say up there is that at a time when visual effects movies are dominating the box office, visual effects companies are struggling," Westenhofer told reporters. "And I wanted to point out that we aren't technicians. Visual effects is not just a commodity that's being done by people pushing buttons. We're artists, and if we don't find a way to fix the business model, we start to lose the artistry. If anything, 'Life of Pi' shows that we're artists and not just technicians."

Westenhofer also worked as VFX supervisor for ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'', released in June 2017. His latest project is ''

Black Adam Black Adam (Teth-Adam) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, and first appeared in the debut issue of Fawcett Comics' '' The Marvel Family'' comic book ...

'', which was released in October 2022.

Appearances

Westenhofer was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders.

References

External links

*
Bill Westenhofer at Rhythm and Hues
(historic)
Bill Westenhofer
at

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westenhofer, Bill Living people People from Brookfield, Connecticut Year of birth missing (living people) American special effects people George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Bucknell University alumni Visual effects supervisors Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners