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Donnellson special effects expert honored Saturday
By Brennan Umthun/MVM News Network
BURLINGTON - And the Emmy goes to ...(?)
Possibly one of Donnellson's own, Ken Gorrell may likely bead with a cold sweat when those words are uttered at the 2008 Primetime Emmys in September.
Gorrell, who is a Hollywood veteran in the game of special effects, just may be “outed” when the award for outstanding special visual effects is revealed during the annual Hollywood event. And to celebrate, an invitation-only, black-tie affair was thrown Saturday night at at TRAX in the Catfish Bend Casino complex with many high profile individuals attending, including producer/director and Grammy winner Israel Jurabe from Los Angeles, Iowa Film Commissioner Tom Wheeler and others.
Gorrell is nominated for his effort on the seven-part HBO miniseries “John Adams.”
“I'm definitely excited to go to the Emmy's,” Gorrell said. “A lot of work went into making this film.”
Gorrell supervised a crew of more than 40 on the HBO epic that chronicles the life of John Adams and the first 50 years of America. The segments of the series that were nominated featured snowstorms in which the entire dire landscape was recreated with pieces of paper.
“We used insulation that you would see in the construction of many homes or newer buildings,” said Gorrell. “Had we (meaning him, Tom Hanks and others) done that with CGI (computer generation) those scenes would have cost over $3 million. Ninty-nine percent of those scenes were done with paper.”
Gorrell isn't new to the movie game either. The list of his work dates back to 1990, when he did work on “Swamp Thing.” Since then he has more than 50 films to his credit; and believe me, you or your children have heard of most of them. For example: “Forrest Gump,” “G.I. Jane,” “The Waterboy,” “The Patriot,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “21 Grams,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,” “Transformers” and much much more.
And to think, he and his family make their home here ... right in our backyard.
“I've lived outside of Donnellson for about four years now,” he said. “Since the nomination I've been traveling non-stop. I've been in Michigan coordinating special effects for a new Drew Barrymore movie, ‘Whip It!.'”
Gorrell, with all of his personal achievement, is now embarking on a new mission: Bringing film to Iowa. And he has enlisted the Iowa Film Commission as well as various area constituents for his goal.
“I'm really trying to bring more films to Iowa. Iowa offers such a great tax incentive package to producers.”
“We'd love to promote and bring film to Southeast Iowa,” said Director of Lee County Business Development Stephen Bisenius. “Ken is a good man for the job in helping us bring producers in. Iowa offers them a lot.”
Possibly one of Donnellson's own, Ken Gorrell may likely bead with a cold sweat when those words are uttered at the 2008 Primetime Emmys in September.
Gorrell, who is a Hollywood veteran in the game of special effects, just may be “outed” when the award for outstanding special visual effects is revealed during the annual Hollywood event. And to celebrate, an invitation-only, black-tie affair was thrown Saturday night at at TRAX in the Catfish Bend Casino complex with many high profile individuals attending, including producer/director and Grammy winner Israel Jurabe from Los Angeles, Iowa Film Commissioner Tom Wheeler and others.
Gorrell is nominated for his effort on the seven-part HBO miniseries “John Adams.”
“I'm definitely excited to go to the Emmy's,” Gorrell said. “A lot of work went into making this film.”
Gorrell supervised a crew of more than 40 on the HBO epic that chronicles the life of John Adams and the first 50 years of America. The segments of the series that were nominated featured snowstorms in which the entire dire landscape was recreated with pieces of paper.
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Gorrell isn't new to the movie game either. The list of his work dates back to 1990, when he did work on “Swamp Thing.” Since then he has more than 50 films to his credit; and believe me, you or your children have heard of most of them. For example: “Forrest Gump,” “G.I. Jane,” “The Waterboy,” “The Patriot,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “21 Grams,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,” “Transformers” and much much more.
And to think, he and his family make their home here ... right in our backyard.
“I've lived outside of Donnellson for about four years now,” he said. “Since the nomination I've been traveling non-stop. I've been in Michigan coordinating special effects for a new Drew Barrymore movie, ‘Whip It!.'”
Gorrell, with all of his personal achievement, is now embarking on a new mission: Bringing film to Iowa. And he has enlisted the Iowa Film Commission as well as various area constituents for his goal.
“I'm really trying to bring more films to Iowa. Iowa offers such a great tax incentive package to producers.”
“We'd love to promote and bring film to Southeast Iowa,” said Director of Lee County Business Development Stephen Bisenius. “Ken is a good man for the job in helping us bring producers in. Iowa offers them a lot.”
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