Robert Legato

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Robert Legato

Robert "Rob" M. Legato (born 6 May 1956; age 67) is a director and visual effects coordinator from Ocean Township, New Jersey, who worked as such on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Legato started out as visual effects coordinator/supervisor for the franchise and has fulfilled that role for the entirety of his tenure at the franchise. However, he was also given the opportunity to flex his muscles as director, and has directed two episodes of The Next Generation, third season's "Ménage à Troi" and fourth season's "The Nth Degree" as well as one Deep Space Nine episode, first season's " If Wishes Were Horses". In addition, he directed the 1991 The Star Trek Logs: An MTV Big Picture Special Edition documentary. His work on the Star Trek franchise has earned Legato three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects, as well as two won Emmy Awards.

Legato's name can be seen on a panel in the episode "The Child" and was referenced in several other episodes as Robert Legato (Vice Admiral)

Before he was hired on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Legato worked at Image G, and it was Legato who was instrumental in bringing in that company as regular motion control photography supplier after the pilot episode. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 1, pp. 60-61)

In 1996 he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects for his work on the drama Apollo 13 which he shared with Star Trek: The Motion Picture visual effects artist Leslie Ekker. Two years later in 1998 he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on James Cameron's drama Titanic.

He worked with director Martin Scorsese on the films The Aviator and The Departed, both as visual effects coordinator and second unit director. More recent projects include Scorsese's horror thriller Shutter Island (2010) on which he worked as visual effects supervisor and James Cameron's science fiction films Avatar (2009) and Battle Angel (2011) on both as virtual cinematography system creator and visual effects pipeline engineer.

In 2012, Legato won an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on Martin Scorcese's adventure Hugo.

Star Trek credits

Legato directing Terry Farrell on the set of "If Wishes Were Horses".

As Director

• TNG:
  • "Ménage à Troi" (1990)
  • "The Nth Degree" (1991, as Rob Legato)
• DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses" (1993)
• The Star Trek Logs: An MTV Big Picture Special Edition (1991)

As Visual Effects Coordinator/ Visual Effects Supervisor

(This list is currently incomplete.)

• TNG:
  • "Encounter at Farpoint" (Season 1 - Visual Effects Coordinator)
  • "The Naked Now"
  • "Code of Honor"
  • "The Last Outpost"
  • "Where No One Has Gone Before"
  • "Lonely Among Us"
  • "Justice"
  • "The Battle"
  • "Hide and Q"
  • "Haven"
  • "The Big Goodbye"
  • "11001001"
  • "When The Bough Breaks"
  • "Heart of Glory"
  • "Skin of Evil"
  • "We'll Always Have Paris"
  • "The Neutral Zone"
  • "The Child" (Season 2 - Visual Effects Supervisor)
  • "Elementary, Dear Data"
  • "The Schizoid Man"
  • "Unnatural Selection"
  • "The Measure Of A Man"
  • "Contagion"
  • "Time Squared"
  • "Pen Pals"
  • "Samaritan Snare"
  • "Peak Performance"
  • "Evolution" (Season 3 - Visual Effects Supervisor)
  • "Who Watches The Watchers"
  • "Booby Trap"
  • "The Price"
  • "The Defector"
  • "The High Ground"
  • "A Matter of Perspective"
  • "The Offspring"
  • "Allegiance"
  • "Tin Man"
  • "Ménage à Troi"
  • "The Best of Both Worlds"
  • "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (Season 4 - Visual Effects Supervisor)
  • "Brothers"
  • "Remember Me"
  • "Reunion"
  • "Final Mission"
  • "Data's Day"
  • "Devil's Due"
  • "First Contact" (uncredited)
  • "Night Terrors"
  • "Identity Crisis" uncredited)
  • "The Nth Degree"
  • "The Drumhead"
  • "The Host"
  • "In Theory"
  • "Darmok" (Season 5 - Visual Effects Supervisor)
  • "Silicon Avatar"
  • "The Game"
  • "Unification I"
  • "New Ground"
  • "Violations"
  • "Conundrum"
  • "Ethics"
  • "Cause and Effect"
  • "Cost of Living"
  • "Imaginary Friend" (uncredited)
  • "The Next Phase"
  • "Time's Arrow"
• DS9:

Emmy Awards

Legato received the following Emmy Award wins and nominations in the category Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects:

• 1990 Emmy Award nomination for "Tin Man", shared with Gary Hutzel, Steve Price, Don Greenberg, Erik Nash, Don Lee, and Michael Okuda
• 1991 Emmy Award nomination for "The Best of Both Worlds", shared with Gary Hutzel, David Takemura, Michael Okuda, Don Greenberg, Erik Nash, Steve Price, Syd Dutton, Robert Stromberg, Bill Taylor, and Don Lee
• 1991 Emmy Award nomination for "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", shared with Gary Hutzel, David Takemura, Patrick Clancy, Steve Price, Michael Okuda, Erik Nash, Syd Dutton, Don Lee, and Bill Taylor
• 1992 Emmy Award win for "Conundrum", shared with Gary Hutzel, David Takemura, Patrick Clancey, Adrian Hurley, Adam Howard, Don Lee, and Dennis Hoerter
• 1993 Emmy Award win for "Emissary", shared with with Gary Hutzel, Michael Dallas Gibson, and Dennis Blakey.

Star Trek interviews

• Reading Rainbow, Season 6, Episode 1: "The Bionic Bunny Show" (1988)
• "Rob Legato - Director to "The Nth Degree", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine Vol. 19, pp. 43-47, interviewed by Lee Goldberg
• DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Deep Space Nine Scrapbook Year One"/ "Building the Station", interviewed on 30 September 1992)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes (1993)
• Movie Magic, Season 1, Episode 11: "Models and Miniatures: A Model of Perfection" (1994)
• TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Five" ("Visual Effects", "Image G", "Shooting Elements"), interviewed on 4 April 2002
• TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "A Tribute to Gene Roddenberry" ("Gene Roddenberry Building Dedicated to Star Trek's Creator"), interviewed on 4 April 2002

Further reading

• "Special Effects: The Next Generation", David Hutchison, Starlog, issue 132, July 1988, pp. 54-57, 77
• "The Special Effects Of Star Trek", Mitchell Rubinstein, Cinefantastique, Vol 22 #2, 1991, pp. 32-34
• "Rob Legato: Director of 'The Nth Degree'", Lee Goldberg, The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine, issue 19, June 1992, pp. 43-47

External links

• Template:IMDb-link
• Robert Legato at Wikipedia