Visual effects supervisor who entered American film as an assistant cameraman in the miniature and optical effects unit for STAR WARS (1977). Other notable (non-nominated) credits include STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982), STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984), BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985 - uncredited), STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME and THE GOLDEN CHILD (both 1986), Akira Kurosawa's YUME / DREAMS (1990), BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (also 1990), THE ROCKETEER (1991), THE MASK (1994), THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT and JUMANJI (both 1995), PHENOMENON and MICHAEL (both 1996), CONTACT (1997), PATCH ADAMS (1998), CAST AWAY (2000), AMERICA'S SWEETHEART (2001), MEN IN BLACK II (2002), THE FORGOTTEN and THE POLAR EXPRESS (both 2004), and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (scheduled for 2010). Ralston in president of Sony ImageWorks.  Nominated for Visual Effects 1981: DRAGONSLAYER (w. Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett & Brian Johnson)  Special Achievement Award 1983: RETURN OF THE JEDI - Visual Effects (w. Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren & Phil Tippett)  Visual Effects 1985: COCOON (w. Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar & David Berry)  Best Achievement in Visual Effects 1988: WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (w. Richard Williams, Edward Jones & George Gibbs)  Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects 1989: BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (w. Michael Lantieri, John Bell & Steve Gawley)  Best Achievement in Visual Effects 1992: DEATH BECOMES HER (w. Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe & Tom Woodruff, Jr.)  Best Achievement in Visual Effects 1994: FORREST GUMP (w. George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum & Allen Hall) 6 nominations, 4 Awards, 1 Special Achievement Award