Gary Hutzel

Gary Dean Hutzel is a visual effects (VFX) supervisor who worked as visual effects coordinator and visual effects supervisor on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Gary Hutzel originally began studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Hutzel decided to change his career to the motion picture industry and moved to Santa Barbara, California to study photography at the Brooks Institute, from which he graduated in the mid-1980s, together with Dana White. His motion picture industry career started with a job as a driver and video camera operator for a commercial production house, Filmfair, where he became interested in visual effects. After a stint as freelancer for CBS on the new Twilight Zone series, he was approached in 1987 to work on The Next Generation, coincidentally reuniting him with fellow Brooks Institute graduate White.

Along with James Martin and Herman Zimmerman, Hutzel was instrumental in the creation of the USS Defiant (2370). He also built the blown up Borg cube breakaway model seen in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". He appears in interviews on several of the DS9 DVDs. His work on Star Trek earned him two Emmy Awards, as well as additional seven nominations.

Unlike fellow VFX Supervisor David Stipes and others, Hutzel, for practical reasons, was the effects supervisor who resisted the application of the computer generated imagery (CGI) techniques, the longest, preferring instead the traditional techniques of producing visual effects, holding on to them well after CGI was firmly established in the franchise. Close co-worker Doug Drexler has explained Hutzel's stance, recalling: "I'll tell you why Gary held out on CG for so long. When you hire a CGI facility to create your visual effects, it represents a loss of control for the VFX supervisor. Especially for someone like Gary, who is a card carrying DP, and accustomed to shooting his own footage.

"When your shots are being created at a facility, you tell them what you want, and when you come back, you hope it looks like what you are expecting. Not only that, the bureaucracy at the facility can be slow moving, and if you need a change, it could take days to get the wheels turning. That is why the visual effects for , which is Gary's show, are in house. Gary runs the CGI from top to bottom, without the middleman. Gary Hutzel is one damned amazing guy. Now he gets his CGI exactly the way he wants it, without any bureaucracy, egos, facility overhead or games. Gary did use some CGI on DS9, but it was always a struggle for him to get what he wanted.

"Ultimately, CGI... if you have a set up like Gary... is faster, cheaper, and can look better. The models never wear out, internal lighting never needs to be changed, alterations are a snap, you don't need a teamster to pick it up from the warehouse and drive it to the stage either. I can go on."

As mentioned by Drexler, Hutzel joined Ronald D. Moore's revamp of Battlestar Galactica, in 2003. He worked as miniature cinematographer and visual effects supervisor on the first mini television series in 2003 and as visual effects supervisor on the mini series Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance in 2006, Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks in 2007, the television movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor in 2007, the mini television series Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy in 2008, the video production The Plan (2009), the spin-off series Caprica (2009-2010) and Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome (2011), and on the original remake Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009).

For his work on the Battlestar Galactica projects, Hutzel earned Emmy Award nominations in 2004, shared with Lee Stringer, Emile Edwin Smith, Jarrod David, Kevin Quattro, Aram Granger, and Kyle Toucher, in 2005, shared with Lee Stringer, Adam Lebowitz, and Gabriel Koerner, another one in 2005, in 2006, shared with Doug Drexler, Chris Zapara, and Kyle Toucher, and in 2009, shared with Kyle Toucher, Shawn M. Jackson, Pierre Drolet, and David R. Morton. Hutzel won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series in 2007, shared with Doug Drexler and Adam Lebowitz, and in 2008, shared with Doug Drexler, David Takemura, Kyle Toucher, Sean M. Jackson, Pierre Drolet, and Derek Ledbetter. He also received an Emmy Award nomination in 2010 for the spin-off series Caprica, shared with Doug Drexler, Kyle Toucher, Pierre Drolet, David R. Morton, and Derek Ledbetter. Hutzel and his team also received the Visual Effects Society Award for their work in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 and another nomination in 2008.

Beside his work on Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, Hutzel worked as minaiture director of Photography on the science fiction thriller Red Planet (2000), as visual effects director of photography for Image G on the science fiction comedy Spy Kids (2001), and as visual effects supervisor on the television movie A Wrinkle in Time (2003), the pilot episode of the Bionic Woman remake (2007), and the action film Drive Angry 3D (2011). For his work on the television science fiction thriller Virtuality in 2009, Hutzel received another Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special which he shared with Derek Ledbetter and Pierre Drolet.

Star Trek credits
(This list is currently incomplete.)
 * Season 1 - Visual Effects (uncredited)
 * - Visual Effects Artist (uncredited) (Season 2)
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator (Season 3)
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Supervisor
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator (Season 4)
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Supervisor
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator (Season 5)
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Supervisor
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator
 * - Visual Effects Coordinator

Emmy Awards
Hutzel received the following Emmy Award wins and nominations in the category Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects for his work on Star Trek:
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Robert Legato, Steve Price, Don Greenberg, Erik Nash, Don Lee, and Michael Okuda
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Robert Legato, David Takemura, Michael Okuda, Don Greenberg, Erik Nash, Steve Price, Syd Dutton, Robert Stromberg, Bill Taylor, and Don Lee
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Robert Legato, David Takemura, Patrick Clancey, Steve Price, Michael Okuda, Erik Nash, Syd Dutton, Bill Taylor, and Don Lee
 * Emmy Award for the episode, shared with Robert Legato, David Takemura, Patrick Clancey, Adrian Hurley, Adam Howard, Don Lee, and Dennis Hoerter
 * Emmy Award for the episode, shared with Robert Legato, Michael Dallas Gibson, and Dennis Blakey
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Joshua Cushner, Judy Elkins, Steve Fong, Dennis Hoerter, Adam Howard, Don Lee, Fredric Meininger, Glenn Neufeld, Scott Rader, Jim Rider, and Joshua D. Rose
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Judy Elkins, Paul Maples, Adrian Hurley, Don Lee, Steve Fong, Davy Nethercutt, Kevin Bouchez, Laurie Resnick, Adam Howard, and Gregory Jein
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Judy Elkins, Gary Monak, Paul Maples, Adrian Hurley, Steve Bowen, Steve Fong, Davy Nethercutt, Kevin Bouchez, Laurie Resnick, and Fredric Meininger
 * Emmy Award nomination for the episode, shared with Dan Curry, David Stipes, Adam Buckner, Arthur J. Codron, Judy Elkins, Paul Maples, Gary Monak, Steve Fong, Don Greenberg, Paul Hill, Davy Nethercutt, Kevin Bouchez, Gregory Rainoff, Adam Howard, Larry Younger, Sherry Hitch, Rob Bonchune, and David Lombardi

Star Trek interviews

 * TNG Season 4 DVD special feature "New Life and New Civilizations", interviewed on
 * TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Five" ("Image G", "Shooting Elements"), interviewed on 7 March 2002