Craig Barron

Craig Barron (born April 6, 1961) is executive creative director at media company, Magnopus, after having worked as a visual effects artist for American film and television, specializing in matte painting effects. He produces visual development and virtual production services for motion pictures, television, museums and multimedia platforms.

Starting at Industrial Light & Magic, Barron contributed to the visual effects on films such as The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. At his own VFX studio Matte World Digital, he produced visual effects for more than 100 films, including Batman Returns, Casino, and Zodiac. He is an Emmy and Academy Award recipient, film historian, museum curator, archivist and author with a focus on the history of visual effects in classic films, before and after the digital age. His presentations and short documentaries for AMPAS, TCM, and Criterion, reveal the formerly secret history of how visual effects pioneers created seamless visuals using matte paintings, miniatures and optical effects.