Huron High School grad John Knoll - who won an Oscar for his visual effects work in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," and who co-invented Photoshop with his brother, Tom Knoll - was recently promoted to Chief Creative Officer (a new position) at George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, now owned by Disney.

From a story in Variety: "'In his new role, Knoll will be involved in early creative planning for all projects that come to ILM," said [ILM president Lynwen] Brennan: “I was looking to find someone to partner with. We always have a vfx supervisor and producer partnered to run a show here. You have the creative and the business side.' Knoll will be the creative voice in across-the-board planning for ILM while Brennan will focus on business and costs."

Another Variety story, meanwhile, focuses on Knoll's early life and training, and explores his place among the greats of visual effects work.

Knoll's previous projects include: the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy; two “Mission: Impossible” films; two “Star Trek” films; and he was co-leader of ILM’s production team on the Oscar-winning animated feature “Rango.” An upcoming project is "Pacific Rim," as well as the new "Star Wars" movie.

• Read the full Variety article

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.