Ulbrich, a Senior Vice president at James Cameron’s Digital Domain, was executive producer for visual effects on “Titanic” and “What Dreams May Come,” both Oscar winners for Visual Effects. His advertising work includes Nike’s Super Bowl spots and Michael Jordan’s Gatorade commercials.
How does a guy with a B.F.A. in painting from the U. of I. end up at one of the country’s most sophisticated digital studios? I had every intention of living in Chicago and making it as an artist. But one day [during my junior year], I walked through a building at the U. of I., one of the super computing facilities, and I thought it was miraculous. My mind was blown.
What caught your eye? People were painting on a computer screen and I thought, “Oh, my God.” It was revolutionary. I’d see someone paint a picture, save it, modify it slightly and save it, then modify it slightly and play it all back. It was animation. Suddenly, paints started feeling like gooey, slow and ancient tools to me and I started to learn about computers.
But didn’t you feel that you were abandoning true art? Art school teaches you many things, but not how to answer, “How am I going to eat?”
How did you get your first big gig at Leo Burnett? I had a friend who worked at Burnett. In the summer of 1986, I took some of my stuff to a guy there and he offered me a job because, he said, “That’s the future.” I was 25 and given a huge budget to create a studio.
How did you go from commercials to film? In 1990, we did the 20th anniversary commercial for Miller Lite. It was the first to incorporate morphing. They wanted a big director [and got] Jim Cameron.
So then he just hired you? No. I remember it was the Bulls’ championship game, I had an apartment full of buddies and the phone rings in the fourth quarter and it’s Cameron. And he says, “Remember working with me a few years ago?” and he offers me the opportunity to start a company with him. I was the second employee of Digital Domain. Ten years later, I’m still here.
What effects are on the horizon? We can create computer-generated humans that you can’t tell from the real deal. [For Gatorade], we created a Michael Jordan that his mother couldn’t tell wasn’t him.
