Born in Salt Lake City, UT. The son of a commercial airline pilot, in the early 60s his family relocated to Burbank, CA, where he came into contact with the film industry living so close to all the major studios. As a result, his interest in films began at an early age. In high school Hall distinguished himself by becoming President of his Junior Class at Burbank High School. Shortly before his senior year his family moved to Thousand Oaks, CA, where he graduated from T.O. High School in 1964. After high school he returned to Utah, where he attended Brigham Young University, obtaining a degree in Zoology. Hall was gifted with natural artistic talent and took an avid interest in oil painting, sculpture, music and engineering. His creative desires led him to the movie business. In 1973, he met Glen Robinson, one of the greatest Special Effects Supervisors at the time, who after six months of pestering gave Hall his break taking him under his wing on the film HINDENBURG. This was a big motion picture that was accorded an Academy Award® nomination and Technical Achievement Award in 1975. A few years later Hall met Joe Lombardi, another Special Effects icon, whose specialty was Pyrotechnics. Lombardi took a liking to the young talented Hall, and hired him to work on the classic war film APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), where he designed and fabricated the burned and charred bodies of soldiers on the battlefield of Vietnam. Hall's career has taken him to various international locations where he has spent over seven years of his career. He has worked for all the major studios and with highly recognized directors: Barry Levinson, Brian De Palma, Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, Francis Ford Coppola, the late Robert Altman, Tony Scott, Sam Mendes, and Jonathan Mostow. Hall, is a four time Academy Award nominee and winner of two Oscars®. His passion for the art of films continues and his career is still flourishing. He is a member of the Visual Effects Branch - Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as well as the Visual Effects Society. He has been a speaker to symposiums on film and to the educational community. Hall's other notable credits include LOVE AT FIRST BITE (1979), POPEYE (1980), ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE (1981), NIGHT SHIFT (1982), THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS and D.C. CAB (both 1983), TOP GUN and THE MOSQUITO COAST (both 1986), BLACK WIDOW, THE UNTOUCHABLES and STRANDED (all 1987), SCROOGED (1988), DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989), AVALON (1990), BACKDRAFT, FOR THE BOYS and FATHER OF THE BRIDE (all 1991), BENNY & JOON (1993), FORREST GUMP and BLIND JUSTICE (both 1994), CUTTHROAT ISLAND (1995), CONTACT (1997), MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1998), U-571 and DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (both 2000), JAMES DEAN (2001), ROAD TO PERDITION (2002), TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003), CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS (2004), CONSTANTINE, MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED & FABULOUS and ELIZABETHTOWN (all 2005), PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST (2006), PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END and I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY (both 2007), THE EYE (2008), and THE LAST FULL MEASURE (scheduled for 2009).  Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects 1991: BACKDRAFT (w. Mikael Salomon, Clay Pinney & Scott Farrar)  Best Achievement in Visual Effects 1994: FORREST GUMP (w. Ken Ralston, George Murphy - VFX & Stephen Rosenbaum)  Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects 1998: MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (as Alan Hall) (w. Rick Baker, Hoyt H. Yeatman, Jr. & Jim Mitchell)  Best Achievement in Visual Effects 2006: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST (w. John Knoll, Hal Hickel & Charles Gibson) 4 nominations, 2 Awards