Doug Chiang facts for kids

Doug Chiang (born 16 February 1962) is an American film designer and artist. He is famous for his creative work on many movies, especially the Star Wars films. He is currently a top creative director at Lucasfilm, the company that makes Star Wars.

Early Life and Learning

Doug Chiang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. When he was 5 years old, his family moved to Dearborn, Michigan in the United States. His parents wanted him to learn American culture, so they encouraged him to speak English. Because of this, Doug lost his ability to speak Chinese over time. However, he says his family still lived a "very culturally Chinese" life, and his parents taught him to work hard.

Doug was greatly inspired by the first Star Wars movie and a book about its art design. He studied industrial design at the College for Creative Studies until 1982. Later, he studied film production at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), graduating in 1986. While in college, he worked as an illustrator and art director for the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

Career Highlights

In the late 1980s, Doug worked at different movie studios. He eventually joined Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a company known for its special effects. There, he was a creative director and worked on big movies like Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Forrest Gump (1994).

In 1995, Lucasfilm hired him to lead their art department. He was the design director for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002). After that, he was a production designer for the movie The Polar Express. Outside of movies, he worked with author Orson Scott Card on an illustrated science-fiction book called Robota.

In 2000, Doug started his own company, DC Studios. His main project there was Robota. He also worked with Sparx Animation Studios to create animated short films that showed the world of Robota.

In 2004, Doug co-founded Ice Blink Studios. He worked on the movie Beowulf there. Ice Blink Studios later became a key part of ImageMovers Digital, a studio that used special technology called performance capture for animation.

Doug returned to the Star Wars universe as a concept artist for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He was also the production designer for Rogue One. His other recent Star Wars projects include the films Solo and The Rise of Skywalker, and the TV shows The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Awards and Recognition

Doug Chiang has won many awards during his career. These include an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Death Becomes Her. He also won another BAFTA for Forrest Gump. For his independent film Mental Block, he received a FOCUS Award. He won a Clio Award for his work on a Malaysian Airlines commercial and The BrandLaureate Award.

Works

Films

• Ghost (1990) (visual effects art director: ILM)
• The Doors (1991) (visual effects art director: ILM)
• Switch (1991) (visual effects art director)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992) (visual effects art director: ILM)
• Death Becomes Her (1992) (visual effects art director: ILM)
• Forrest Gump (1994) (visual effects art director: ILM)
• The Mask (1994) (visual effects art direction supervisor)
• Jumanji (1995) (visual effects art director: ILM)
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) (design director, visual effects production designer: ILM)
• Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) (concept design supervisor)
• The Polar Express (2004) (production designer)
• War of the Worlds (2005) (concept artist)
• Monster House (2006) (concept design supervisor)
• Beowulf (2007) (production designer)
• A Christmas Carol (2009) (production designer)
• Mars Needs Moms (2011) (production designer)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) (concept artist)
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) (production designer)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (head of design)
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) (head of design)

Television

• The Mandalorian (2019–present) (design supervisor, art director)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) (design supervisor)

Books

• Robota (2003) (co-Writer, illustrator)
• Mechanika: Creating the Art of Science Fiction with Doug Chiang (2008, 2015) (writer, illustrator)
• Star Wars Art: Concepts (Star Wars Art Series) (2013) (introduction, concept artist)
• The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) (concept artist)

Video Games

• Card Soldier Wars (2008) (artist)
• The Looking Glass Wars Card Game (2009) (artist)