Doug Smith
Visual Effects Supervisor
Doug Smith is one of Rhythm & Hues’ leading creative talents. The Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor recently completed work on “Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel” for 20th Century Fox. The family comedy was the largest production ever for Rhythm & Hues, with hundreds of complex animation shots and the equivalent of 913 years of rendering time. In addition to “The Sqeaukuel,” Doug led the R&H team on the sci-fi comedy “Aliens in the Attic” for Fox, which released in Summer 2009 and provided Doug with the rare occasion of leading two large scale productions in the same year.
Since joining R&H in 1998, Doug has contributed his deep expertise in visual effects to a wide array of films, including “Evan Almighty,” “The Longest Yard,” “Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat,” “Planet of the Apes,” “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,” “Liberty Heights” and “The Out of Towners.” In addition to VFX duties, he sometimes directs the 2nd unit as he did most recently for “Aliens in the Attic.”
Doug shared the Oscar for Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on the 1996 blockbuster “Independence Day.” He also served as VFX director of photography for director James Cameron’s “True Lies,” as well as a number of national commercials.
After observing his older brother Wayne work with FX pioneer Douglas Trumbull on the seminal 70’s sci-fi projects “Silent Running” and “The Andromeda Strain,” Doug made an auspicious debut as VFX camera assistant on the original “Stars Wars: A New Hope.”
As a partner with Apogee Productions, Doug tackled a variety of projects, enlisting as both cameraman and head of the camera department at Apogee, creating effects for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” “Coming to America,” “Never Say Never Again,” “Caddyshack,” “The Natural,” “Firefox” and “My Step Mother Is An Alien.” Doug headed up the visual effects teams for “Blue Jean Cop” and “The Grand Tour,” and contributed to several Clio award-winning commercials, numerous television projects including the original “Battlestar Galactica,” as well as theme park venues for Euro-Disney and Luxor.
Doug is a member of Local 600, Int’l Cinematographers Guild, the Directors Guild of America and the Visual Effects Society. Born in California, Doug is a self-proclaimed “military brat” who was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Morocco and Puerto Rico as a child.