{"id":446325,"date":"2026-08-28T17:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446325\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T17:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:54:21","slug":"legendary-berkeley-special-effects-studio-holding-huge-fire-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446325\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Berkeley special-effects studio holding huge fire sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StudioA model of the Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker signed by Phil Tippett, up for grabs at Studio Tippett\u2019s fire sale starting Friday. Credit: Clarity Estate Liquidation<\/p>\n

Perhaps you\u2019re in the market for an Imperial Walker? Or the head of a wampa, the furry white creature that menaced Luke Skywalker on the ice planet of Hoth?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friday might be your lucky day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After four decades in West Berkeley, legendary effects pioneer Phil Tippett is shutting down his namesake studio, and he\u2019s got plenty of stuff to unload, including pieces related to his work for George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Paul Verhoeven. On Aug. 28-29-30, Clarity Estate Liquidation is auctioning off just about everything<\/a> not nailed down, including artifacts related to some of Hollywood\u2019s most iconic films.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m keeping the Oscars,\u201d said Tippett, 74, when Berkeleyside visited him recently in his studio, referring to his Academy Awards for special effects in \u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d and \u201cJurassic Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Models, movie posters, film equipment, story boards and much more will be available to buy at the Tippett Studio fire sale Aug. 28-29-30. Credit: Clarity Estate Liquidation<\/p>\n

With his grizzled white beard and faded cut-off black t-shirt, Tippett looks like a biker ready to sell his chopper. He didn\u2019t so much leave Hollywood as watch the movie business recede into the distance. \u201cI\u2019m retired from the racket,\u201d he said. \u201cMy last major project was the \u2018Twilight\u2019 series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Phil Tippett, master animator and Oscar winner, who was born in Berkeley and founded his namesake studio there in his garage in 1984, says he\u2019s \u201cretired from the racket.\u201d Credit: Courtesy Phil Tippett<\/p>\n

But what a ride. He\u2019s a survivor who got his start back in the analog days, then pivoted to \u201cdigital, CGI and now AI,\u201d he said. Over the years the studio rented space as needed. \u201cBut it\u2019s so cyclical we didn\u2019t want to buy more space,\u201d he said. The company sold another West Berkeley facility on Sixth Street years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This studio is packed with models and memorabilia, film gear and production books with story boards and notes. The Imperial Walker model bearing his signature is \u201cone of four or five artist proofs scanned from the original,\u201d he said. There are terrifying faces from the remake of \u201cThe Haunting\u201d emerging from the walls, hundreds of figurines, dozens of masks, and enough\u00a0 film posters to provide the d\u00e9cor for a sci-fi\/horror themed hotel (including an autographed \u201cHellboy\u201d one-sheet).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a crazy scene on Friday, with people lined up down the block,\u201d said Clarity Estate\u2019s Josh Roberts. \u201cWe\u2019ve been spending all week setting up. When the sale happens it\u2019s very intense. My crew is out on the floor with walkie-talkies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire sale is part of the studio\u2019s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Tippett said the studio\u2019s demise was a prolonged affair and there were numerous causes, including the consolidation of Hollywood studios and tax incentives offered by cities and states competing for film production business. In 2024 the Indian company PhantomFX acquired Tippett Studio, but that didn\u2019t prevent Chapter 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t shed everything, \u201cbut I\u2019ve made a lot of painful decisions,\u201d he said. There\u2019s a storage space filled with pieces and artifacts for a Los Angeles exhibition that opens at the CoproGallery Oct. 10<\/a> focusing on his disturbing 2021 stop-motion masterpiece \u201cMad God.\u201d<\/a> There are also plenty of pieces from \u201cMad God\u201d on sale, along with grips, lights, lenses and cameras.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy Saturday this place will looking completely different,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBy Sunday they\u2019ve got to move everything out of the building.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wrapping up four decades of cinematic magic is one special effect Tippett was hoping to avoid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The sale, at Studio Tippett, 914 Grayson St., kicks off on Friday, Aug. 28 and runs through the weekend, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Credit: Clarity Estate Liquidation<\/p>\n

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