The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honored the dedicated and highly skilled artists at Lucas Digital with four Oscar nominations. Lucasfilm Ltd. congratulates the talented and hard-working people recognized today.

Sound Editing
Whether recreating pivotal and tragic events in history, or imaging a whimsical, imaginary world, Skywalker Sound brings a vibrant reality to moving pictures through their leading edge sound editing.

Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers have been recognized for their sound editing contributions to Monsters, Inc.. Rydstrom is an 11-time nominee, having also garnered a nomination for his work on The Phantom Menace. He is currently working on Episode II.

Skywalker Sound's Christopher Boyes, alongside George Watters II, were also nominated in this category for their work on Pearl Harbor.

Visual Effects
Industrial Light & Magic's Dennis Muren and Scott Farrar have received nominations for Best Visual Effects for their work on A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Also nominated alongside the ILMers are Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri. This is Muren's 12th nomination, and he was previously nominated for The Phantom Menace, and received special achievement awards for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Muren is one of the Visual Effects Supervisors for Attack of the Clones.

For their work on the stunning visual effects of Pearl Harbor, the Academy has recognized ILM's Eric Brevig, Ed Hirsh and Ben Snow. John Frazier was also recognized. Ben Snow is currently working as one of Episode II's Visual Effects Supervisors, and Ed Hirsh is a longtime ILM employee, having worked on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

Also nominated this year is a long time collaborator with Lucasfilm, composer John Williams. Williams is nominated for Best Music (Score) for both A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, giving him the astounding record of 41 Academy Award nominations. In previous years, Williams has been nominated for his work on such Lucasfilm productions as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and won for his landmark Star Wars score. Williams has just completed the musical score for Episode II.

The 74th Annual Academy Awards airs on March 24, 2002, at 5:00 p.m. Pacific, on ABC.

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