Bran Ferren (born January 16, 1953), is a technologist, artist, architectural designer, vehicle designer, engineer, lighting and sound designer, visual effects artist, scientist, lecturer, photographer, entrepreneur, and inventor. Ferren is the former President of Research and Development of Walt Disney Imagineering as well as founder of Associates & Ferren, a multidisciplinary engineering and design firm acquired in 1993 by Disney. He is Chief Creative Officer of Applied Minds, which he co-founded in 2000 with Danny Hillis. Apple’s “pinch-to-zoom” patent, which features prominently in its legal battle with Samsung, was invalidated by the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2013 based on a 2005 patent by Ferren and Hillis for multi-touch gestures.
He was awarded the 1980 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Special Visual and Sound Effects at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Visual Effects
Title
Year
Status
Character
Second Sight
1989
special visual effects
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
1989
visual effects
Making Mr. Right
1987
special visual effects
Little Shop of Horrors
1986
special visual effects
Places in the Heart
1984
special visual effects
Tempest
1982
special visual effects
Deathtrap
1982
special visual effects
Altered States
1980
special visual effects
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Impostor
2001
consultant: future technology
Guilty as Sin
1993
title designer
Fat Man and Little Boy
1989
technical advisor
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
1988
title designer
Little Shop of Horrors
1986
title designer
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Funny
1988
Documentary
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Manhattan Project
1986
Lab Assistant
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Funny
1988
Documentary
Special Effects
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Manhattan Project
1986
special effects supervisor
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Funny
1988
Documentary producer
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1987
Scientific and Engineering Award
Academy Awards, USA
1987
Technical Achievement Award
Academy Awards, USA
For the development of a laser synchro-cue system for applications in the motion picture industry.
1983
Technical Achievement Award
Academy Awards, USA
For the design and development of a computerized lighting effect system for motion picture ... More
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1989
Grand Jury Prize
Sundance Film Festival
Documentary
Funny (1988)
1988
BAFTA Film Award
BAFTA Awards
Best Special Effects
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
1988
Gold Hugo
Chicago International Film Festival
Best Documentary
Funny (1988)
1987
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Effects, Visual Effects
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Known for movies
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) as Visual Effects
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) as Visual Effects
$950,000
