The Art & Science of Lucasfilm: StageCraft

Ian Milham joined Industrial Light & Magic in 2018 as a Virtual Production Supervisor, after a 24-year career in real-time computer graphics. He lead the onstage team of artists operating the Stagecraft system in its first major deployment on Season One of The Mandalorian. Ian got his start as an environment artist in video games, becoming an Art Director and Creative Director on several titles. He was nominated for Best Real-Time Visuals by the Visual Effects Society and a BAFTA for Outstanding Visual Achievement for Dead Space.

Ciku Karanja is a technology project manager for Lucasfilm’s virtual production teams. For the past eight years, she has worked with filmmakers, actors, creatives, and engineers across the Bay Area. She has a Master’s degree in media history; enjoys exploring narrative as it relates to audience, society, and power; and is intrigued by cinematic innovations as definitive and disruptive milestones in our future histories.

Born in Limerick, Ireland, Eoghan Cunneen studied Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin before starting his career at Framestore as an engineer in London. He later moved to Montreal to help set up their new studio operations. At Framestore, Eoghan worked on shows like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Paddington and Gravity before moving to San Francisco to join Lucasfilm. Since then, Eoghan has worked on Disney+’ The Mandalorian Seasons One and Two, Carne y Arena and the “Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run” ride at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Eoghan is a founding member of the Irish VFX and Animation Summit, an event hosted annually in Dublin between 2013–2015 that celebrated VFX and animation. In 2018, Eoghan curated Immersive Stories at the Dublin International Film Festival, a conference and exhibition that celebrated immersive experiences and multi-platform storytelling.