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How did you get involved in the making of Roland Emmerich’s 2012?
Volker Engel: It was in 1988 when I met Roland in Stuttgart while I was studying graphic design. I started working on he is last movie he did in Germany, which was called Moon 44; it was only a very small three million dollar picture. I became Visual Effects Supervisor on that picture, I started as a model maker and three months later I supervised the whole film, which was great. That was my entry as Effects Supervisor in to the industry on my first movie. Then I did Universal Soldier with him, not Stargate I went back kept on studying, finished my studies in Germany. I went to a film school where Marc and I met. Then Roland called me up to supervise Independence Day, that’s when I moved over. Marc was already in the United States at this point.
Marc Weigert: We met at film school, originally I was studied producing and directing. That was just the time when our film school got five brand new silicon graphics work stations with Alias Wavefront version 3.2 or what ever the Hell it was. It was when Terminator 2 was released and I thought I have to learn that [vfx], that’s really cool. It would give me an edge later as a producer or director or whatever. We did not even have a teacher over there yet, so they said, "Here are the manuals, " - stacks about this big - and said “knock your self-out." I sat there day and night with those manuals while Volker was doing a stop-motion movie next door. So we were always the two that stayed late at night and that is how we became friends. Eventually I decided to come over to the States to learn more about screen writing, since I felt the European Auteur movie weren’t really my thing, so I thought I have to go, somewhere else to learn that. I was there for a year and then Volker came over and said hey I want you on board we are doing Independence Day, I thought sure why not?
Engel: I talked to Roland; we were looking for people more on the organizing side. I told him I know just the right guy and he is here in LA! Marc became Project Manager for visual effects on Independence Day, and I was one of the two Visual Effects Supervisors together with Douglas Smith.
On 2012 you’re both co-producers as well as visual effects supervisors?
Weigert: Yes, it’s something that really came out of the history we started in ’99. To open our own production company, Uncharted Territory.
Engel: Ten-year anniversary!
Weigert: We thought ’hey we need to do more’; we don’t just want to be doing visual effects because visual effects became so much more integrated in the whole production process. It wasn’t so much about pre-production, shoot, and post production anymore, everything become more intermingled. We thought we have to expand our own role and plan this better and the only way to this is to become co-producers. So we started producing our own small little adventure movie called Coronado, which we did in 2001. We tested the concept, it was our first movie we produced everything from the very beginning. Even until the end when we did the 16 by 9 and scan-in ourselves in After Effects. We literally edited everything; it was our second film school so to say. With that concept we continued on and did several more projects. Until Roland came again one and a half years ago and said "hey guys I would really like to do that with you. I understand how your concept works and would really like to have you on board."
Engel: There was no discussion about us becoming co-producers. It was us coming on board as co-producers and visual effects supervisors.
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