Phil Tippett's Historic Berkeley Studio Closes with Liquidation Sale - Animation Magazine

This weekend, movie buffs, animation fans and former employees lined up down the street outside Tippett Studio in Berkeley, California, to hunt for treasures at an everything-must-go liquidation sale before the storied VFX shop shuts down.

Founded by celebrated animator Phil Tippett in 1984, the studio offered up artworks, props, production materials and equipment to curious buyers through Sunday. These included items from classic films and franchises like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, RoboCop, Ghostbusters and Starship Troopers as well as Hellboy, Twilight and The Mandalorian.

Also on sale were the studio’s collections of awards — with the exception of the two Oscars that Tippett won for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Jurassic Park. “They’re the big ticket items, and they were the most significant moments in my journey,” 74-year-old Tippett told KPIX (CBS News Bay Area).

The VFX pioneer shared with KPIX that the sell-off is part of the studio’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings begun in May 2024, shortly after Tippett Studio was acquired by Indian-based PhantomFX. But, he added, he has no intention of retiring after the Berkeley shop shuts its doors. “I’ll die with my sword in my hand,” he told the news station. “We had an almost 40 year run and, you know, it was a good run.”

Tippet’s latest project is the original feature Sentinel, which he is producing with Colin Geddes of Ultra 8 Pictures. The film was spotlighted in a session for NVIDIA’s AI Production Day at SIGGRAPH this summer. Tippett Studio and Ultra 8 Pictures joined forces in 2023 to launch the Canada-based shingle Tippett Productions.

Learn more about the studio at tippett.com.