Richard Edlund planned to leave
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and start his own business.
Ghostbusters director
Ivan Reitman convinced
Columbia Pictures to collaborate with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which also needed an effects studio, to advance Edlund $5 million to establish his own company, Boss Film Studios. Boss Film Studios (originally Boss Film Corporation) initially undertook two projects,
Ghostbusters and
2010, simultaneously. In an effort to set up the new venture quickly, Edlund acquired
Douglas Trumbull's Entertainment Effects Group, taking over their
Marina Del Rey facility.
Competition with ILM Boss Film soon established itself as one of ILM's competitors as it contributed to such projects as
Die Hard,
Poltergeist II, and
Big Trouble in Little China. Edlund and his team chose to compete with ILM technically, continuing EEG's preference for using
65mm film for the creation of their optical effects work. This provided potentially cleaner effects than ILM's
VistaVision format due to its much larger negative area.
Boss Game Studios Boss Film branched out into video game production in 1994 through sister company
Boss Game Studios. Boss Film also operated a commercial production company producing many television spots for companies including
Budweiser,
Dodge,
United Airlines, and
DHL.
Closure Boss Film announced it was closing its doors on August 26, 1997, citing the difficulties of sustaining an independent effects house within the competitive environment at the time. ==Awards==