Robert Legato

Robert Legato (born 1956) is an American visual effects supervisor, second unit director, and second unit director of photography.

Raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Legato graduated from Ocean Township High School.[1]

Career

He directed the 2016 film Eloise.

He has been nominated for five Academy Awards and has won three. His first win was for his visual effects work on Titanic, his second was for his work on Hugo and his third for The Jungle Book. In 1996, he won the BAFTA award for Best Achievement in Special Effects for Apollo 13, for which he also garnered his first Academy Award nomination. In 2020, he received his fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects for The Lion King.

Prior to his work in film, he was a Visual Effects Supervisor for Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1987 to 1992, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1993. His work on the Star Trek franchise earned him three Emmy nominations and two wins, as well as an in-front-of-the-camera appearance on Reading Rainbow for an episode devoted to a behind-the-scenes look at TNG.

Legato is a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Visual Effects Society (VES).

Filmography

Film

Year Title Visual effects supervisor Second unit director Second unit director of photography Director
1994 Interview with the Vampire Yes Yes Yes Neil Jordan
1995 Apollo 13 Yes No No Ron Howard
1997 Titanic Yes No No James Cameron
2000 What Lies Beneath Yes No No Robert Zemeckis
Cast Away visual effects consultant No No
2001 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Yes Yes Yes Chris Columbus
2003 Bad Boys II Yes No No Michael Bay
2004 The Aviator Yes Yes Yes Martin Scorsese
2005 Bewitched No Yes No Nora Ephron
2006 The Departed Yes Yes Yes Martin Scorsese
The Good Shepherd Yes Yes Yes Robert De Niro
2007 The Nanny Diaries Yes No No Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
2008 Shine a Light visual effects consultant No No Martin Scorsese
Standard Operating Procedure Yes No No Errol Morris
2009 Avatar Yes No No James Cameron
2010 Shutter Island Yes Yes Yes Martin Scorsese
A Nightmare on Elm Street No Yes No Samuel Bayer
2011 Hugo Yes Yes Yes Martin Scorsese
George Harrison: Living in the Material World Yes No No
2013 The Wolf of Wall Street Yes Yes Yes
2016 The Jungle Book Yes Yes Yes Jon Favreau
2019 The Lion King Yes Yes Yes
2020 Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm No Maryland unit No Jason Woliner
2022 Ambulance Yes No No Michael Bay
Emancipation Yes Yes No Antoine Fuqua
2023 Air No Yes No Ben Affleck
The Equalizer 3 No Yes No Antoine Fuqua
2024 Horizon: An American Saga Yes Yes Yes Kevin Costner

Television

Year Title Visual effects supervisor Visual effects coordinator Visual effects artist
1986 The Twilight Zone 1 Episode
1987–1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation 46 Episodes 17 Episodes
1993 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 18 Episodes 1 Episode

References

  1. ^ Staff. "Shore's Robert Legato is special-effects wizard behind 'Hugo'", Asbury Park Press, February 26, 2012. "Many decades later, after growing up in Asbury Park, graduating from Ocean Township High School and studying film in Santa Barbara, Calif., Legato has become the magician."
  • Robert Legato at IMDb
  • Robert Legato at TED Edit this at Wikidata
    • "Rob Legato: The art of creating awe". TEDGlobal 2012. TED. June 2012.
  • "Rob Legato on Hugo and The Joy of Filmmaking". Creative Cow Magazine. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  • "VFX Supervisor Rob Legato on Hugo". StudioDaily.com. Retrieved 21 February 2013.