1975

Created in 1975, Industrial Light & Magic is a major branch of Lucasfilm. George Lucas created ILM as he started his production of Star Wars. Lucas sought to produce visual effects that could not be done by 20th Century Fox that were necessary for the film. Lucas acquired John Dykstra, who appointed a crew of 75 young college students, artists, and engineers to form ILM. Since then, ILM has made effects for 317 movies and has won 15 Academy Awards for Visual Effects as well as created Pixar (which was sold to Steve Jobs in 1986) and, in part, created Photoshop.

Also in this year, Skywalker Sound, originally called Sprocket Systems but later renamed after Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, was introduced as the sound effects and sound editing division of Lucasfilm. Since the release of Star Wars in 1977, Skywalker Sound has either won or been nominated for the Best Sound and Best Sound Editing Academy Award. Ben Burtt was a major part of the sound in Star Wars, using innovative techniques to produce sounds like X-wings and lightsabers that would become iconic sounds through the film series.