49 - Lorne Peterson - Part One - ILM Chief Model Maker

The Filmumentaries Podcast

For this episode, number 49 you’ll hear my conversation with a founding member of Industrial Light and Magic, who has brought an immeasurable amount of skill and artistry not only to the original Star Wars trilogy, but also to the prequels, Indiana Jones, Men in Black, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park, E.T. The list is immense. The man I speak of is ILM former Chief Model Maker Lorne Peterson. Lorne was so taken with my interview with industrial designer Nilo Rodis Jamero (that’s episode 17 from January 2021 if you’d like to take a listen) that he felt compelled to talk to me. He said he found the Nilo episode quite emotional and I quote “I was nearly brought to tears. My voice broke up when I tried to ask my wife for something. It was an epic 33 years with many a milestone along the way and every week brought new adventures, each day actually. We essentially got to live and work in Florence during the Renaisance.”I’d contacted Lorne many months before and when I had no reply I assumed he wasn’t interested. I was so pleased to hear back from him, not only because he is someone whose work I admired immensely but also because an episode of my podcast was the catalyst for him to reply. Happy making.Lorne joined ILM just as Star Wars was being made. He stayed for 33 years. Just think of the titles he worked on and the changes he observed in the industry. Our conversation went on for over two hours, so it will be split up into two episodes for April 2022. The first one right here and the second part will be up by the end of the month.Please share.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamiebenning)