In Memoriam Optical and Visual Effects Maestro Alan Church (1964-2024)

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2024-12-25

Alan Church, Visual Effects Supervisor, In Memoriam

From Sweden with Love is devastated to report the passing of our dear friend, optical effects artist and visual effects supervisor Alan Church, aged 60. He worked on four James Bond films between 1983 and 1995.

Like many of us, Alan Church was inspired to choose the arts as a career thanks to his love of all things cinema, especially the James Bond movies. “My first Bond films were a Dr. No/Thunderball double feature and when I saw the gun barrel and heard the music, my hair used to stand up and I didn’t know what it was but I knew I wanted to do it...”. Alan told From Sweden with Love’s Mark Cerulli in an exclusive interview just four years ago.

Alan got his wish, working on over 150 films including Never Say Never Again (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), Licence to Kill (1989), and GoldenEye (1995), meaning he worked with four Bond actors in his distinguished career.

Alan also had the distinction of actually appearing IN a Bond film – his hand is seen holding Bond’s Walther in the opening titles to Licence to Kill! As an Optical Operator, he worked alongside the legendary title designer Maurice Binder on the Eon Productions films. Other major titles Alan worked on included Cape Fear, Aliens, The Crying Game, Wild Geese II, Return to Oz, The Neverending Story, Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home and many others.

Alan’s last TV credit, The Tattooist of Auschwitz (an extremely well produced series which is an essential watch for all humans!), won him a 2024 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Award and 2024 Broadcast Tech Innovation Award. He and his partner Simon Giles (also a very respected Visual Effects Supervisor in the film and television industry) were to have attended the private 55th Anniversary Screening of On Her Majesty's Secret Service [Alan’s favourite James Bond film] at the Electric Cinema in London but Alan had to cancel due to a health issue, and we sadly lost him on December 23, 2024.

Alan Church, George Lazenby, Simon Giles

Alan Church, George Lazenby, Simon Giles

Alan Church, George Lazenby and Alan’s partner Simon Giles at the 50th Anniversary celebration of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in Murren 2019. Photo by Sascha Braun. All rights reserved.

Alan was universally respected and loved by the Bond community. Helping us cope with his tragic loss is the fact that he truly lived his dream and did what he loved for many years. Thank you for the movie magic and your frienship Alan, I will never forget you!

For information about Alan Church’s long career in the film industry, check out his IMDB profile.

Text by Anders Frejdh. Copyright © 2025 From Sweden with Love. All rights reserved.

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In Memoriam Optical and Visual Effects Maestro Alan Church (1964-2024)

Alan got his wish, working on over 150 films including Never Say Never Again (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), Licence to Kill (1989), and GoldenEye (1995), meaning he worked with four Bond actors in his distinguished career.

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