Doug Chiang

Doug Chiang
Born	(1962-02-16) February 16, 1962 (age 62) Taipei, Taiwan
Alma mater	College for Creative Studies University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Film designer
Years active	1990–present
Employer	Lucasfilm (1995–present)
Title	Vice President and Creative Director at Lucasfilm

Doug Chiang (Chinese: 江道格; born 16 February 1962) is an American film designer and artist. He is vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm and previous Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at Lucasfilm.

Early life

Chiang was born in Taipei, Taiwan.^{[citation needed]} His dad had gone to Michigan in the United States for college, and moved the family to Dearborn, Michigan when Chiang was 5 years old.^[1]^[2] His parents encouraged him to assimilate into American culture by speaking more English, which Chiang described as one of the ways the family tried to fit in. Chiang therefore lost his ability to speak Chinese over the years.^[2] Nonetheless, he characterized his lifestyle as "still very culturally Chinese", citing the strong work ethic imposed by his parents.^[2]

Chiang was inspired by the original Star Wars film and the accompanying art design book.^[3] He studied industrial design at the College for Creative Studies until 1982.^[4] He later studied film production at UCLA and graduated in 1986. During his time in college, he was an illustrator and art director for the Daily Bruin and involved with the Association of Chinese Americans.^[1]

Career

During the late 1980s, he worked at various production studios including Rhythm and Hues. Chiang eventually joined Industrial Light & Magic as a creative director where he worked on films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Forrest Gump (1994). In 1995, he was hired to lead Lucasfilm's art department;^[3] he was the design director for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).^[5] Afterwards, he was a production designer on Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express. Outside of film, he collaborated with author Orson Scott Card on an illustrated science-fiction book called Robota.

He founded DC Studios^[6] in 2000 with his creation, Robota, as a primary project. Along with Sparx Animation Studios in Ho Chi Minh City, he created several animated shorts depicting the world of Robota in action.

In 2004, Chiang co-founded Ice Blink Studios and worked for Zemeckis on Beowulf. Ice Blink closed in 2007, becoming the core of the facility for ImageMovers Digital, a pioneering performance capture animation studio.^{[citation needed]}

Chiang returned to the Star Wars franchise as the concept artist for The Force Awakens as well as production designer for Rogue One. His other Star Wars includes the films Solo and The Rise of Skywalker, and the television series The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Chiang has won numerous awards throughout his career, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Death Becomes Her, a BAFTA for Forrest Gump, a FOCUS Award for his independent film Mental Block, a Clio Award for his work on a Malaysian Airlines commercial and The BrandLaureate Award.^{[citation needed]}

Works

Films

Ghost (1990) (visual effects art director: ILM)
The Doors (1991) (visual effects art director: ILM)
Switch (1991) (visual effects art director)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992) (visual effects art director: ILM)
Death Becomes Her (1992) (visual effects art director: ILM)
Forrest Gump (1994) (visual effects art director: ILM)
The Mask (1994) (visual effects art direction supervisor)
Jumanji (1995) (visual effects art director: ILM)
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) (design director, visual effects production designer: ILM)
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) (concept design supervisor)
The Polar Express (2004) (production designer)
War of the Worlds (2005) (concept artist)
Monster House (2006) (concept design supervisor)
Beowulf (2007) (production designer)
A Christmas Carol (2009) (production designer)
Mars Needs Moms (2011) (production designer)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) (concept artist)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) (production designer)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (head of design)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) (head of design)

Television

The Mandalorian (2019–present) (design supervisor, art director)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) (design supervisor)

Books

Robota (2003) (co-Writer, illustrator)
Mechanika: Creating the Art of Science Fiction with Doug Chiang (2008, 2015) (writer, illustrator)^[7]
Star Wars Art: Concepts (Star Wars Art Series) (2013) (introduction, concept artist)
The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) (concept artist)

Video games

Card Soldier Wars (2008) (artist)
The Looking Glass Wars Card Game (2009) (artist)

References

^ ^a ^b Chang, Kenny (August 5, 2001). "Former Bruin brings artistry to "˜Star Wars' prequels". Daily Bruin. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ""There is a Strength in Asian Culture": A Conversation with Lucasfilm Legend Doug Chiang". StarWars.com. May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Chiang, Doug (2016). The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. New York: Abrams. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4197-2225-7.
^ "Doug Chiang". College for Creative Studies. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
^ Christopher, James (April 12, 2000). "Greetings, Earthlings; Arts". The Times. p. 16.
^ "Doug Chiang Studio". www.dchiang.com.
^ "Book". ArtistsNetwork. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

External links

Doug Chiang at IMDb
Doug Chiang at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Doug Chiang Studio
Ice Blink Studios

Awards for Doug Chiang

v t e Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
1963–1980	Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963) Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964) John Stears – Thunderball (1965) Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966) L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967) Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969) A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974) Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975) Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976) John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977) Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978) H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979) Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981–2000	Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983) Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson, and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar, and David Berry – Cocoon (1985) Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986) Dennis Muren, Bill George, Harley Jessup, and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987) Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones, and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989) Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993) Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994) Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, and John Cox – Babe (1995) Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney, and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996) Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997) Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998) John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999) John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
2001–2020	Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004) Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010) Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011) Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013) Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014) Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015) Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016) John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018) Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019) Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
2021–present	Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer – Dune (2021) Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima – Godzilla Minus One (2023)