Robert Legato (born 1956) is an American visual effects supervisor, second unit director, and second unit director of photography.
Raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Legato graduated from Ocean Township High School.Staff. "Shore's Robert Legato is special-effects wizard behind 'Hugo'", Asbury Park Press, February 26, 2012. "Many decades later, after growing up in Asbury Park, graduating from Ocean Township High School and studying film in Santa Barbara, Calif., Legato has become the magician."
Career He directed the 2016 film Eloise.
He has been nominated for five Academy Awards and has won three. His first win was for his visual effects work on Titanic, his second was for his work on Hugo and his third for The Jungle Book. In 1996, he won the BAFTA award for Best Achievement in Special Effects for Apollo 13, for which he also garnered his first Academy Award nomination. In 2020, he received his fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects for The Lion King.
Prior to his work in film, he was a Visual Effects Supervisor for Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1987 to 1992, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1993. His work on the Star Trek franchise earned him three Emmy nominations and two wins, as well as an in-front-of-the-camera appearance on Reading Rainbow for an episode devoted to a behind-the-scenes look at TNG.
Legato is a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Visual Effects Society (VES).
Filmography Film Year Title Visual effects supervisor Second unit director Second unit director of photography Director 1994 Interview with the Vampire Neil Jordan 1995 Apollo 13 Ron Howard 1997 Titanic James Cameron 2000 What Lies Beneath Robert Zemeckis Cast Away 2001 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Chris Columbus 2003 Bad Boys II Michael Bay 2004 The Aviator Martin Scorsese 2005 Bewitched Nora Ephron 2006 The Departed Martin Scorsese The Good Shepherd Robert De Niro 2007 The Nanny Diaries Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini 2008 Shine a Light Martin Scorsese Standard Operating Procedure Errol Morris 2009 Avatar James Cameron 2010 Shutter Island Martin Scorsese A Nightmare on Elm Street Samuel Bayer 2011 Hugo Martin Scorsese George Harrison: Living in the Material World 2013 The Wolf of Wall Street 2016 The Jungle Book Jon Favreau 2019 The Lion King 2020 Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm Jason Woliner 2022 Ambulance Michael Bay Emancipation Antoine Fuqua 2023 Air Ben Affleck The Equalizer 3 Antoine Fuqua 2024 Horizon: An American Saga Kevin Costner
Television
Year Title Visual effects supervisor Visual effects coordinator Visual effects artist 1986 The Twilight Zone 1 Episode 1987–1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation 46 Episodes 17 Episodes 1993 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 18 Episodes 1 Episode
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