Jim Hillin

Jim Hillin

Director, Screenwriter and Visual Effects Supervisor

Los Angeles, California

Member Since:
May 2017
Last online:
> 2 weeks ago
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About Jim

Writer/Director/VFX Supervisor – Jim Hillin


Jim came to Los Angeles in 1979 as an artist, animator and musician. He began is career in computer
graphics at a small start-up company in 1985 in Pasadena, CA. while simultaneously attending The Art
Center College of Design. He worked hard, learning the engineering side of CGI over the next several
years while garnering his first television, location-based entertainment and feature film credits in the
1980s.

In 1987, after helping a friend writing the ending of her film “Pickman's Model”, he started writing his
first screenplay.

In 1989, Jim was hired by Walt Disney Feature Animation to be the Computer Graphics Supervisor of
“Beauty and the Beast” and head up the company's first Computer Graphics Department.

His first screenplay option was for “Horace Gumshoe,” his second screenplay, written in 1990.
After leaving Disney, Jim began studying with Screenwriting Guru, Syd Field, in Master Classes at Fox
and at Syd's home over the next decade.

In 1993, he was hired by Jim Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross as the Director of Digital
Production for a new visual effects house, Digital Domain. There, he hired the first crew, created specs
for all of the original software, including “Nuke “ the current industry standard for compositing, and
went on to work as CG Supervisor on “Interview With the Vampire” and several other motion pictures.

In 1995, Jim returned to the Walt Disney Company to head up technical and pipeline development of a
new live-action animated project, called 'Dinosaur.'
After completing his work as Effects Compositing Supervisor and Animated Effects Supervisor on
'Dinosaur', he worked as a Writer-Director at Walt Disney Feature Animation Development, pitching
five animated features and two shorts in his first six months.

In 2000, Jim was elected by his peers into the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.

In 2006, Jim wrote the screenplay “AfterLife” with long-time mentor Syd Field.

In Addition to the films mentioned, Jim has also created Visual Effects for: Robo-Cop2, True Lies,
Apollo13, Aladdin, Strange Days, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Spider-Man2,
Ghostrider, Spider-Man3, I Am Legend, Beowulf, SpeedRacer, 2012, Priest. Jack, the Giant Killer,
Suicide Squad, CHIPS and recently, several Indie films, Home, Birth of a Nation, The Master Cleanse,
The Last Face, Beatriz and Dinner, Mainline and Burning Sands.

Jim is a member of The Academy, The Visual Effects Society, The Animation Guild Local 839 and he has recently joined the faculty of The Syd Field Screenwriting Academy.

Jim is currently developing a new pipeline for Computer Graphics and writing his fifteenth screenplay.

Badges

Certifications

Photos

Credits

  • Knockout

    Knockout (2018)
    Film Visual effects

  • L.A. Confidential

    L.A. Confidential (2018)
    TV Movie Visual effects

  • Mary Poppins Returns

    Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
    Film Visual effects

  • The Kominsky Method

    The Kominsky Method (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Ozark

    Ozark (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Pose

    Pose (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Castle Rock

    Castle Rock (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Goliath

    Goliath (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Station 19

    Station 19 (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Mom

    Mom (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Empire

    Empire (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • 9-1-1

    9-1-1 (2018)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Snowfall

    Snowfall (2017)
    Television Visual effects A look at the early days of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles during the beginning of the 1980s.

  • The House

    The House (2017)
    Film (Comedy) Visual effects A dad convinces his friends to start an illegal casino in his basement after he and his wife spend their daughter's college fund.

  • Mainline

    Mainline (2017)
    Film (Short and Sci-Fi) Visual effects A reclusive bioengineer faces the horrific consequences of his time-traveling serum.

  • Feud

    Feud (2017)
    Television (Biography and Drama) Visual effects Tells the story of the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during their collaboration on the Academy Award®-nominated thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and after the cameras stopped rolling. The series explores how the two women endured ageism and misogyny while struggling to hang on to success and fame in the twilight of their careers. Written by FX

  • CHIPS

    CHIPS (2017)
    Film (Action, Comedy and Crime) Visual effects Jon Baker (Shepard) and Frank Ponch Poncherello (Peña) have just joined the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Los Angeles, but for very different reasons. Baker is a beaten-up former pro motorbiker trying to put his life and marriage back together. Poncherello is a cocky undercover Federal agent investigating a multi-million dollar heist that may be an inside job-inside the CHP. The inexperienced rookie and the hardened pro are teamed together, but clash more than click, so kick-starting a real partnership is easier said than done. But with Baker's unique bike skills and Ponch's street savvy it might just work...if they don't drive each other crazy first. Written by Warner Bros.

  • Beatriz at Dinner

    Beatriz at Dinner (2017)
    Film (Comedy) Visual effects A holistic medicine practitioner attends a wealthy client's dinner party after her car breaks down.

  • American Crime

    American Crime (2017)
    Television (Drama) Visual effects When a young couple -- war veteran Matt and his wife, Gwen Skokie -- are attacked in their Modesto, Calif., home, Matt dies and Gwen is left unconscious, barely clinging to life. As news of the brutal crime makes its way through the media, both sets of parents sit vigil by Gwen's bed, hoping for a miracle to keep her with them. The police investigation begins to close in on four suspects in the case, and shock waves radiate through the community, stirring up tensions along ethnic and racial lines. Written by Jwelch5742

  • Underground

    Underground (2017)
    Television (Drama and History) Visual effects With the country on the brink of Civil War, the struggle for freedom is more dangerous than ever. Underground tells the story of American heroes and their harrowing journey to freedom, with legendary Harriet Tubman blazing the trail. Written by WGN America

  • Criminal Minds

    Criminal Minds (2017)
    Television (Crime, Drama, Mystery and Thriller) Visual effects Based in Quantico, Virginia, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is a subsection of the FBI. Called in by local police departments to assist in solving crimes of a serial and/or extremely violent nature where the perpetrator is unknown (referred to by the Unit as the unknown subject or unsub for short), the BAU uses the controversial scientific art of profiling to track and apprehend the unsub. Profiling entails coming up with basic characteristics of the unsub and the victims (referred to as the victimology), using evidence from the case and matching that information to historic precedents and psychological analyses as a means to solve the case. Because of the nature of the work conducted by the BAU - the work being time consuming and psychologically demanding - its members are fiercely loyal to the Unit and to its other members. Also because of the work's overall demanding nature, not many members of the BAU have been able to maintain a happy or stable family life. Written by Huggo

  • Burning Sands

    Burning Sands (2017)
    Film (Drama) Visual effects Deep into Hell Week, a favored pledgee is torn between honoring his code of silence or standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing.

  • The Good Doctor

    The Good Doctor (2017)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Preacher

    Preacher (2017)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • The Clapper

    The Clapper (2017)
    Film Visual effects

  • The Cleanse

    The Cleanse (2016)
    Film Visual effects

  • Home

    Home (2016)
    Film Visual effects

  • Suicide Squad

    Suicide Squad (2016)
    Film Visual effects

  • The Last Face

    The Last Face (2016)
    Film Visual effects

  • Cell

    Cell (2016)
    Film Visual effects

  • The Birth of a Nation

    The Birth of a Nation (2016)
    Film Visual effects

  • Castle

    Castle (2014)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

    Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013 - 2014)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014

    Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 (2013)
    Video Game Visual effects

  • The Storm

    The Storm (2013)
    Film Visual effects

  • Jack the Giant Slayer

    Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
    Film Visual effects

  • Bullet to the Head

    Bullet to the Head (2012)
    Film Visual effects

  • Priest

    Priest (2011)
    Film Visual effects

  • MacGruber

    MacGruber (2010)
    Film Visual effects

  • 2012

    2012 (2009)
    Film Visual effects

  • Speed Racer

    Speed Racer (2008)
    Film Visual effects

  • I Am Legend

    I Am Legend (2007)
    Film Visual effects

  • Beowulf

    Beowulf (2007)
    Film Visual effects

  • Spider-Man 3

    Spider-Man 3 (2007)
    Film Visual effects

  • Ghost Rider

    Ghost Rider (2007)
    Film Visual effects

  • Herbie Fully Loaded

    Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)
    Film Visual effects

  • Spider-Man 2

    Spider-Man 2 (2004)
    Film Visual effects

  • Looney Tunes: Back in Action

    Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
    Film Visual effects

  • Dinosaur

    Dinosaur (2000)
    Film Visual effects

  • Strange Days

    Strange Days (1995)
    Film Visual effects

  • Apollo 13

    Apollo 13 (1995)
    Film Visual effects

  • Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

    Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
    Film Visual effects

  • True Lies

    True Lies (1994)
    Film Visual effects

  • Little Big League

    Little Big League (1994)
    Film Visual effects

  • Aladdin

    Aladdin (1992)
    Film Visual effects

  • Beauty and the Beast

    Beauty and the Beast (1991)
    Film Visual effects

  • Jetsons: The Movie

    Jetsons: The Movie (1990)
    Film Visual effects

  • RoboCop 2

    RoboCop 2 (1990)
    Film Visual effects

  • The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

    The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990)
    Film Visual effects

  • BraveStarr: The Legend

    BraveStarr: The Legend (1988)
    Film Visual effects

  • BraveStarr

    BraveStarr (1987 - 1988)
    TV Series Visual effects

  • Pickman's Model

    Pickman's Model (1981)
    Film Composer

  • S.W.A.T.

    S.W.A.T.
    TV Series Visual effects

Education

  • Baylor University
    (1974-1979)

  • California State University, Northridge
    (1974-1979)

  • University of California, Los Angeles
    (1974-1979)

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