
Visual Effects Pioneer Scott Ross on Movie Magic and the AI Revolution
Don’t Kill the Messenger host Kevin Goetz welcomes visual effects legend Scott Ross, whose remarkable career spans from running Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to co-founding Digital Domain with James Cameron and Stan Winston. In this conversation, Ross takes us through the evolution of visual effects, from practical models to digital technology, and offers compelling insights on the industry’s future with AI. As the visual effects visionary behind iconic films like Terminator 2, Titanic, Apollo 13, and What Dreams May Come, Ross offers insights into the world of VFX and what the future has in store for the industry.
From Film Student to Visual Effects Pioneer
Scott Ross’s journey into visual effects wasn’t planned. Initially, he studied film at Hofstra University in the early 1970s, but his motivation wasn’t necessarily artistic passion, “What I really wanted to do was keep my butt out of Vietnam.” After graduating, Ross eventually found himself in the visual effects industry during its most transformative period, the early 1980s, when Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind had revolutionized cinema:
“At the time, it was maybe three companies that were doing work like we were doing at Industrial Light and Magic, and it was coming off of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And so Hollywood, in a lot of ways, as I’m sure you’re quite aware, was turned upside down. So for all of these years, they were making these musicals and Bible stories and whatnot, and all of a sudden this new thing came in called sci-fi. And Sci-fi blew away everybody.”
From Practical to Digital: The Evolution of Visual Effects
Ross provides a fascinating window into the pre-digital era of visual effects at ILM:
“At Industrial Light and Magic, when I got there, everything that was being done was being done optically and chemically, there was no digital. So it was models and miniatures shot on celluloid film. Generally, Vista Vision, which is 35 millimeter eight perf. So the film moves from left to right as opposed to up and down.”
He also explains how we perceive visual effects differently as technology evolves:
“I’m a kid and I’m at the Ward Theater in the Bronx, and I’m watching Flash Gordon, black and white, really horrible visual effects models and miniatures that are bouncing all over the place, scaled. That doesn’t work. But when I’m eight years old watching that, I’m thinking to myself, wow, that’s great. I mean, I bought it. I bought it a hundred percent.”
Rising Through the Ranks at ILM
Ross describes his unexpected path to becoming general manager at ILM:
“I interviewed with 45 people, including the receptionist. And somehow I passed mustard and I got the job. And then I moved up the ranks very quickly to become the general manager.”
In a surprising revelation, Ross shares that despite overseeing George Lucas’s visual effects empire, “I only met George twice. In deference to George, I’m a huge fan of George Lucas and what he’s done and what he’s done for the industry. I’m a huge fan of his movies and he’s an incredibly introspective, uncomfortable around people and he just retreated.”
Founding Digital Domain with James Cameron and Stan Winston
Ross’s career took another leap when he co-founded Digital Domain with James Cameron and Stan Winston in 1993. He shares the story of how this powerhouse trio came together:
“Because of the names attached, mostly Jim’s name, we have this press conference at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, and everybody shows up, and we’re on the front page of the Hollywood Reporter and we’re on the front page of Variety. So it was not like this twitchy kind of company that starts, we have IBM as our investor, and we have Jim Cameron as the chairman of the company. So it was like right out of the stall, we’re running at a hundred miles an hour.”
On his partnership with Cameron, Ross is unequivocal about the director’s talents: “Jim Cameron is one of the greatest filmmakers that ever lived.”
The Economics of Visual Effects
Ross offers eye-opening insights into why visual effects are so expensive and the business challenges behind the industry:
“They’re really expensive because of the number of personnel needed to be able to produce the work. I’ll give you an example. We were just talking earlier before the podcast, and I was talking about Electric State, and I’m looking at the credits in Electric State. $225 million or something like that. So as you look at each and every department, the departments are 10 people in the camera department, eight producers, five people in the sound department, whatever it is. And 925 people in the visual effects department. That’s going to change in a very, very big way.”
He also explains the global competition driving prices down:
“Studios need visual effects in a very big way because, as you know, as probably is better than anyone else, that the international box office is now more important than domestic box office. And so we know that movies like Driving Miss Daisy are not gonna play in China. So what is it that allows international movies to play across international lines? It’s imagery.”
The Threat and the Promise of the AI Revolution
When asked about artificial intelligence, Ross provides one of the most balanced assessments of this transformative technology:
“AI is an incredibly wonderful technology that will revolutionize the way the world works. It will save thousands of lives, and it will make life even more enjoyable than it is. But it’s a paradox. On the other hand, it’s also really, really frightening and can do terrible things. We’ll put lots of people out of work and, in the wrong hands, could be incredibly destructive.”
For the visual effects industry specifically, Ross predicts a massive shift:
“My take is 75% of the visual effects workers around the world will lose their jobs to artificial intelligence. And then as artificial intelligence becomes generative AI, right? So it now is more salient and has the ability to create, and I think it will have the ability to create and it cuts even further.”
Yet he also sees a silver lining:
“The good news is that just like when cameras moved from giant Mitchell Blimped, 35 millimeter cameras, of which there were X number in the entire world, and if you wanted to make a feature film, you needed to have access to it. That has now been replaced with fairly democratized technology. So you can shoot a movie now, really, with your iPhone.”
Visual Effects Must Support the Story
Ross emphasizes the fundamental principle that should guide visual effects work:
“Visual effects should always be there to support the narrative. It should always be there, but sometimes it’s not.”
He expands on the collaborative nature of filmmaking:
“If you’re a director and you understand that collaboration, and you’re willing to give, and you’re willing to take, and you’re willing to inspire, you wind up getting great work.”
Reflections on Iconic Films
Ross shares behind-the-scenes stories from some of his most memorable projects, including Apollo 13:
“The movie I most enjoyed working on in my entire life. First of all, you have a director who is comfortable in his clothes. He’s not second-guessing you. I remember he walked over to Rob Legato, who is the visual effects supervisor on the Saturn five liftoff. And Rob said, so what do you want me to do here? And Ron Howard said, make it look like Marty Scorsese shot it, and that was it. And Rob and the team went away and they delivered it, and Ron said, you nailed it.”
On The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ross notes its groundbreaking nature:
“It was a real challenge because that was the first time you really needed to create a computer-generated human being that was believable of a very famous person. It’s one thing if you’re creating a computer-generated version of somebody we’ve never met, but if it’s somebody that’s really famous, we know what he looks like. That’s a super challenge.”
And on Titanic, Ross reflects with humility:
“Probably the pinnacle of my career. The most famous movie I ever worked on. I always feel like I have imposter syndrome, so like when I’ll travel around the world and I’ll give lectures, particularly in Asia, Japan, Korea, and China, when they realize that my company worked on Titanic, I’m a superstar and I always feel badly because I actually didn’t do the work.”
Don’t miss the full conversation on Don’t Kill the Messenger to hear more about Mike Marcus’s Hollywood journey and insights into the legendary films he helped bring to life.
Scott Ross’s memoir Upstart: The Digital Film Revolution is available now on Amazon.
Don’t Kill the Messenger, hosted by movie and entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz, brings his book Audienceology to life. This bi-monthly podcast takes a peek behind the filmmaking curtain as Kevin talks with famous filmmakers, studio executives, stars, and other creatives about movies, filmmaking, audience test screenings, and much more.
For more information about Scott Ross
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ross_(film_executive)
IMDB:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743824/
Upstart: The Digital Film Revolution (Book): https://a.co/d/iRhI0uR
For more information about Kevin Goetz:
Website: www.KevinGoetz360.com
Audienceology Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Audience-ology/Kevin-Goetz/9781982186678
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @KevinGoetz360
Linked In @Kevin Goetz
Screen Engine/ASI Website: www.ScreenEngineASI.com
For deeper insights into what makes a movie resonate and succeed, don’t miss the upcoming book How to Score in Hollywood (September 2025) by entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz with Bob Levin. This book unveils the secrets behind success and profitability in the movie business, showcasing how smart, data-driven decisions—from development through release—can help filmmakers minimize risks and maximize returns.
Kevin, the founder and CEO of Screen Engine/ASI, is also the bestselling author of Audience-ology, host of the popular Don’t Kill the Messenger podcast, and a speaker who educates the filmmaking community through keynotes and global presentations. In 2024, he was honored with the prestigious American Cinematheque Power of Cinema Award for his transformative contributions to the film industry.