Van Ling is a

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the pr ...

, film producer and creator of

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

menus for many popular movies, including the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' DVDs.

Biography

Ling graduated summa cum laude from the

USC School of Cinema-Television The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree i ...

. He began his career as a visual effects supervisor for ''

The Abyss ''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery tea ...

'' and became head of production on

Lightstorm Entertainment Lightstorm Entertainment, Inc. is an American independent film and television production company founded by filmmaker James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff in 1990. The company's films include the sci-fi film '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' ...

, for which he continued with many major motion pictures and television, including ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'', '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'', '' The Walking Dead'', ''

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...

'', '' Dr. Dolittle'', ''

Vanilla Sky ''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was writ ...

'' and many others. He had a brief cameo in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster ''Titanic'', as the Chinese man, who was in real-life, a Chinese passenger booked under the name of Fang Lang (original name Wing Sun Fong, ), whom Fifth Officer Harold Lowe rescued from the sea. Van is also an active member of the Visual Effect Branch of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

, the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...

and the

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and p ...

, the latter in which he served six terms as Board of Directors. He wrote and directed '' Cliffs of Freedom'', an indie

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film starring

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the Australian film ''Dead Calm (film), Dead Calm'' (1989), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association, ...

Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in various science fiction, action and horror genre productions, including Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise and Frank Black in the Fox television series ...

Tania Raymonde Tania Raymonde Helen Katz (born March 22, 1988) is a Franco-American actress. Her roles have included Cynthia Sanders on the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' between 2000 and 2002, followed by Alex Rousseau in the ABC series '' Lost'' fr ...

, Jan Uddin,

Raza Jaffrey Raza Jaffrey (born May 28 1975) is a British actor who is known for his roles as Zafar Younis in the BBC One spy drama series '' Spooks'' (2004–2007) and Neal Hudson in the CBS medical drama '' Code Black'' (2015). He also had a recurring role ...

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer. After starting her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972, she soon gained acclaim for her leading performances on the Broadway and West End stage. Known f ...

Costas Mandylor Costas Mandylor (born Costas Theodosopoulos; 3 September 1965) is an Australian actor. He made his film debut with a supporting role in '' Triumph of the Spirit'' (1989) before a lead role as Frank Costello in the crime drama film '' Mobsters'' ...

, and

Kevin Corrigan Kevin Corrigan (born March 27, 1969) is an American character actor. He has appeared mostly in independent films and television since the 1990s, including as Uncle Eddie on the sitcom '' Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005). His film appearances i ...

References

External links

* * * Living people USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-film-director-stub