Erik Nash (born 21 December 1959; age 64) is a motion picture visual effects artist who has worked on two Star Trek films and episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He had both the starship USS Nash and the Starfleet officer Erik Nash named after him.
Nash first contributed to the Trek franchise as a visual effects camera assistant, while in the employ of Apogee, Inc., on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which also happened to be the start of his professional Hollywood career. [1] During the 1980s, he worked as an assistant editor on a number of short films directed by special effects artist Douglas Trumbull, who also worked on Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
In the early 1990s, he became a motion control technician at the special effects company Image G, during which time he worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Having spent a total of eight seasons on both shows, his work on these shows, has earned him four Emmy Award nominations and two wins for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects.
In 1995, Nash joined Digital Domain as a visual effects director of photography and seemingly left the Star Trek franchise behind – until 2002, when Digital Domain was contracted to produce the visual effects for Star Trek Nemesis. As such, Nash oversaw the photography of that film's visual effects.
Career outside Star Trek[]
Nash's other Digital Domain visual effects photography credits include Apollo 13 (1995), Titanic (1997, alongside several other former Star Trek VFX staffers [2]), and XXX (2000). He also worked as Digital Domain's visual effects supervisor on films such as Armageddon (1998), I, Robot (2004), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Real Steel (2011). His work on I, Robot helped earn Digital Domain its fifth Academy Award nomination in the Best Visual Effects category, shared with Joe Letteri and also earned the company another Saturn Award nomination for Best Special Effects. For his work on Real Steel, Nash was nominated in 2012 for an Academy Award in the category "Best Visual Effects".
Star Trek credits[]
- Star Trek films
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Special Visual Consultant: Apogee, Inc.
- Star Trek Nemesis – Visual Effects Director of Photography
- TNG:
- "Tin Man" – Motion Control Supervisor (uncredited, Season 3)
- "The Best of Both Worlds" – Motion Control Camera Operator (uncredited)
- "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" – Motion Control Camera Operator (uncredited, Season 4)
- "Redemption II" – Motion Control Camera Operator (uncredited, Season 5)
- "A Matter Of Time" – Motion Control Photographer (uncredited)
- "All Good Things..." – Motion Control Photographer (Season 7)
- DS9:
- "The Jem'Hadar" – Motion Control Programmer (uncredited, Season 3)
Emmy Awards[]
As Motion Control Supervisor/Cameraman/Camera Operator/Programmer, Erik Nash received the following Emmy Award wins and nominations in the category Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects:
- 1990 Emmy Award nomination for the episode "Tin Man", shared with Robert Legato, Gary Hutzel, Steve Price, Don Greenberg, Don Lee, and Michael Okuda
- 1991 Emmy Award nomination for the episode "The Best of Both Worlds", shared with Gary Hutzel, Robert Legato, David Takemura, Michael Okuda, Don Greenberg, Steve Price, Syd Dutton, Robert Stromberg, Bill Taylor, and Don Lee
- 1991 Emmy Award nomination for the episode "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", shared with Robert Legato, Gary Hutzel, David Takemura, Patrick Clancey, Steve Price, Michael Okuda, Syd Dutton, Bill Taylor, and Don Lee
- 1992 Emmy Award win for the episode "A Matter Of Time", shared with Dan Curry, Ronald B. Moore, David Takemura, Don Lee, Peter Sternlicht, Adam Howard, Syd Dutton, and Robert Stromberg
- 1994 Emmy Award win for the episode "All Good Things...", shared with Dan Curry, David Stipes, Michael Backauskas, Scott Rader, and Adam Howard
- 1995 Emmy Award nomination for the episode "The Jem'Hadar", shared with Glenn Neufeld, David Takemura, Joshua Cushner, Les Bernstien, Adam Howard, Patrick Clancey, and Don Lee