Matt Sweeney (special effects artist)

American visual effects artist (1948–2024) For other uses, see Matthew Sweeney (disambiguation).

Matt Sweeney
Born	Matthew Sweeney (1948-04-00)April 1948
Died	February 19, 2024 (aged 75) Burbank, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Visual effects artist
Years active	1979–2009
Spouse	Lucinda Foy (m. 2020)

Matthew Sweeney (April 1948 – February 19, 2024) was an American special effects artist who was nominated at the 68th Academy Awards in the category of Best Visual Effects along with Leslie Ekker, Michael Kanfer and Robert Legato. They were nominated for their work on the film Apollo 13.

Sweeney died in Burbank on February 19, 2024, at the age of 75, from prolonged lung cancer.

Awards

Sweeney received 3 Technical Achievement Awards at the Academy Awards.

59th Academy Awards: For the development of an automatic capsule gun for simulating bullet hits for motion picture special effects (with Lucinda Strub).
70th Academy Awards: For the development and realization of Liquid Synthetic Air (with James F. Foley, Charles Converse and F. Edward Gardner (of UCISCO); and to Robert W. Stoker, Jr.).
74th Academy Awards: For the concept, design and realization of the "Mic Rig" (with Mic Rodgers)

Selected filmography

The Goonies (1985)
American Flyers (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Rockula (1990)
Arachnophobia (1990)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1992)
Falling Down (1993)
Maverick (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Apollo 13 (1995)
The Cable Guy (1996)
Batman & Robin (1997)
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Knocked Up (2007)
Role Models (2008)
Fast and Furious (2009)
Fast Five (2011)
Furious 7 (2015)

References

"The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
Barnes, Mike (22 February 2024). "Matt Sweeney, Oscar-Nominated Visual Effects Artist on 'Apollo 13,' Dies at 75". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
"2002 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
"Bad Dialogue, Silliness come Fast & Furious in Race car thriller". Daily Herald. 2001-06-22. Retrieved 2023-06-30.

External links

Matt Sweeney at IMDb

v t e BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects
1982–2000	Richard Edlund - Poltergeist (1982) Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Kit West - Return of the Jedi (1983) Dennis Muren, George Gibbs, Michael J. McAlister, and Lorne Peterson - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) George Gibbs and Richard Conway - Brazil (1985) Robert Skotak, Brian Johnson, Suzanne M. Benson, John Richardson, and Stan Winston - Aliens (1986) Michael Lantieri, Michael Owens, Edward Jones, and Bruce Walters - The Witches of Eastwick (1987) George Gibbs, Richard Williams, Ken Ralston, and Edward Jones - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell, and Steve Gawley - Back to the Future Part II (1989) The production team of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1990) Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Michael Lantieri, Ken Ralston, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Doug Chiang, and Douglas Smythe - Death Becomes Her (1992) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri - Jurassic Park (1993) Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Doug Chiang, and Allen Hall - Forrest Gump (1994) Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Matt Sweeney, and Leslie Ekker - Apollo 13 (1995) Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Henry LaBounta, and Habib Zargarpour - Twister (1996) Mark Stetson, Karen Goulekas, Nick Allder, Neil Corbould, and Nick Dudman - The Fifth Element (1997) Stefen Fangmeier, Roger Guyett, and Neil Corbould - Saving Private Ryan (1998) John Gaeta, Steve Courtley, Janek Sirrs, and Jon Thum - The Matrix (1999) Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Walt Conti, Habib Zargarpour, and Tim Alexander - The Perfect Storm (2000)
2001–present	Jim Rygiel, Richard Taylor, Alex Funke, Randall William Cook, and Mark Stetson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Joe Letteri, Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Karen Goulekas, Neil Corbould, Greg Strause, and Remo Balcells - The Day After Tomorrow (2004) Joe Letteri, Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hul, and Richard Taylor - King Kong (2005) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood - The Golden Compass (2007) Eric Barba, Craig Barron, Nathan McGuinness, and Edson Williams - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones - Avatar (2009) Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb - Inception (2010) Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, and David Vickery - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, and Erik-Jan de Boer - Life of Pi (2012) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould, and Nikki Penny - Gravity (2013) Paul Franklin, Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Lockley, and Ian Hunter - Interstellar (2014) Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, and Neal Scanlan - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, and Adam Valdez - The Jungle Book (2016) Richard R. Hoover, Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, and John Nelson - Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Geoffrey Baumann, Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack, and Dan Sudick - Black Panther (2018) Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Tuohy - 1917 (2019) Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Lockley - Tenet (2020) Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, and Gerd Nefzer - Dune (2021) Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon - Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Simon Hughes - Poor Things (2023)

BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects

1982–2000

Richard Edlund - Poltergeist (1982)
Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Kit West - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Dennis Muren, George Gibbs, Michael J. McAlister, and Lorne Peterson - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
George Gibbs and Richard Conway - Brazil (1985)
Robert Skotak, Brian Johnson, Suzanne M. Benson, John Richardson, and Stan Winston - Aliens (1986)
Michael Lantieri, Michael Owens, Edward Jones, and Bruce Walters - The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
George Gibbs, Richard Williams, Ken Ralston, and Edward Jones - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell, and Steve Gawley - Back to the Future Part II (1989)
The production team of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1990)
Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Michael Lantieri, Ken Ralston, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Doug Chiang, and Douglas Smythe - Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri - Jurassic Park (1993)
Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Doug Chiang, and Allen Hall - Forrest Gump (1994)
Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Matt Sweeney, and Leslie Ekker - Apollo 13 (1995)
Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Henry LaBounta, and Habib Zargarpour - Twister (1996)
Mark Stetson, Karen Goulekas, Nick Allder, Neil Corbould, and Nick Dudman - The Fifth Element (1997)
Stefen Fangmeier, Roger Guyett, and Neil Corbould - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
John Gaeta, Steve Courtley, Janek Sirrs, and Jon Thum - The Matrix (1999)
Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Walt Conti, Habib Zargarpour, and Tim Alexander - The Perfect Storm (2000)

2001–present

Jim Rygiel, Richard Taylor, Alex Funke, Randall William Cook, and Mark Stetson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Joe Letteri, Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Karen Goulekas, Neil Corbould, Greg Strause, and Remo Balcells - The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Joe Letteri, Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hul, and Richard Taylor - King Kong (2005)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood - The Golden Compass (2007)
Eric Barba, Craig Barron, Nathan McGuinness, and Edson Williams - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones - Avatar (2009)
Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb - Inception (2010)
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, and David Vickery - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, and Erik-Jan de Boer - Life of Pi (2012)
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould, and Nikki Penny - Gravity (2013)
Paul Franklin, Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Lockley, and Ian Hunter - Interstellar (2014)
Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, and Neal Scanlan - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, and Adam Valdez - The Jungle Book (2016)
Richard R. Hoover, Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, and John Nelson - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Geoffrey Baumann, Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack, and Dan Sudick - Black Panther (2018)
Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Tuohy - 1917 (2019)
Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Lockley - Tenet (2020)
Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, and Gerd Nefzer - Dune (2021)
Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon - Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Simon Hughes - Poor Things (2023)

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