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.

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

YearTitleVisual effects supervisorSecond unit directorSecond unit director of photographyDirector
1994Interview with the VampireYesYesYesNeil Jordan
1995Apollo 13YesNoNoRon Howard
1997TitanicYesNoNoJames Cameron
2000What Lies BeneathYesNoNoRobert Zemeckis
Cast Awayvisual effects consultantNoNo
2001Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneYesYesYesChris Columbus
2003Bad Boys IIYesNoNoMichael Bay
2004The AviatorYesYesYesMartin Scorsese
2005BewitchedNoYesNoNora Ephron
2006The DepartedYesYesYesMartin Scorsese
The Good ShepherdYesYesYesRobert De Niro
2007The Nanny DiariesYesNoNoShari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
2008Shine a Lightvisual effects consultantNoNoMartin Scorsese
Standard Operating ProcedureYesNoNoErrol Morris
2009AvatarYesNoNoJames Cameron
2010Shutter IslandYesYesYesMartin Scorsese
A Nightmare on Elm StreetNoYesNoSamuel Bayer
2011HugoYesYesYesMartin Scorsese
George Harrison: Living in the Material WorldYesNoNo
2013The Wolf of Wall StreetYesYesYes
2016The Jungle BookYesYesYesJon Favreau
2019The Lion KingYesYesYes
2020Borat: Subsequent MoviefilmNoMaryland unitNoJason Woliner
2022AmbulanceYesNoNoMichael Bay
EmancipationYesYesNoAntoine Fuqua
2023AirNoYesNoBen Affleck
The Equalizer 3NoYesNoAntoine Fuqua
2024Horizon: An American SagaYesYesYesKevin Costner

Television

YearTitleVisual effects supervisorVisual effects coordinatorVisual effects artist
1986The Twilight Zone1 Episode
1987–1992Star Trek: The Next Generation46 Episodes17 Episodes
1993Star Trek: Deep Space Nine18 Episodes1 Episode

External links

  • at IMDb
  • at TED . TEDGlobal 2012. TED. June 2012.
  • . Creative Cow Magazine. Archived from on 7 April 2019.
  • . StudioDaily.com.