Jim Dow

James "Jim" Richard Dow was a visual effects artist who was creative head and chief modeler employed at Magicam, Inc., during the production of Star Trek: Phase II and. In that capacity he oversaw the team of modelers who built the various studio models for those productions. He has authored an article on the period of the latter production that was published in the October 1979 issue of the American Cinematographer magazine. In it, Dow recalled how he was brought in to work for Magicam, "'In September 1977, wrapping two years of work supervising construction and handling of the various miniatures for, I was asked by Joe Matza of Magicam to set up a permanent facility which would grow into a well-rounded effects service available to both the film and video industries. I had been given an invitation to participate in the miniature work for Steven Spielberg's 1941, but decided to set up my 'own' shop for Magicam. Staffing from scratch, we pursued and landed the job of constructing the miniatures for the long-awaited Star Trek television remake and, with a small staff, began construction.' (p. 152)" He has remained in the employment of Magicam for the remainder of that company's existence.

Prior to his involvement with The Motion Picture he has worked on the features  (1972, as model maker) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, as model shop coordinator with Gregory Jein). For the latter production he organized and ran the model shop of Douglas Trumbull's Future General Corporation, the company responsible for the visual effects of the movie. Dow won an Emmy Award for his work on Carl Sagan's television documentary series Cosmos (1980), one of the only two other projects Magicam was involved in, after The Motion Picture. Pursuant the closure of Magicam, Dow has predominantly worked for theme parks and exhibitions. In 2012, after a long absence from the motion picture business, Dow has worked on the horror movie Styria as production designer.

Jim Dow is brother to Industrial Light & Magic's cameraman Don Dow, who has also worked on several features of the Star Trek franchise. (Cinefex, issue 18, 1984, p. 62)