Magicam Magicam , Inc . was a relatively short - lived , specialized in building miniatures that was located on North Las Palmas Avenue in Los Angeles ( Hollywood ) , California . The company , headed by Robert C . King , Joe Matza and vice - president Carey Melcher , was a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures , which created the company to maintain full control over filming models . Contracted at the start of for providing all the VFX of the upcoming television project " " , the company started work with the construction of the studio models for the project . To help out with the construction work , Magicam sub - contracted Gregory Jein for the build of the ( and already filming destruction scenes , as then scripted ) , as well as Brick Price Movie Miniatures for the build of the new hero - model , the six - foot " Enterprise " studio model . ( " " , issue 27 , p . 26 ; " " , p . 27 ) However , already four months later , early , the initial VFX commission of Magicam was rescinded after Paramount had decided to upgrade " Phase II " to the theatrical movie project , , for which they brought in Robert Abel & Associates ( RA & A ) at the start of the new year , deemed more capable to handle the VFX requirements for the production of VFX of a big screen production . Yet , Magicam was retained as model company , its model shop headed by Chief Modeler Jim Dow , especially when RA & A ' s VFX Designer Richard Taylor and the producers decided in the previous month that the models already built or in the process of being built , were unsuitable for big screen requirements . To gain the new commission though , Magicam still had to compete with their now former sub - contractor Brick Price Movie Miniatures , which was at that point in time slightly favored by Taylor . ( ' , issue 30 , p . 8 ) " " Even though we were a Paramount company , we had to submit bids just like any outsiders . We were expensive , because we ' re a " [ n ] " union shop , but they knew we could do the work . " " , Melcher clarified . ( ' , issue 27 , p . 26 ) All " Phase II " studio models , which were in various states of conclusion and which included an early cigar - shaped version of the V ' Ger model , were scrapped ( with the exception of the D7 - Class model , which Jein retained ) and Magicam had to start all over again , rebuilding the models to higher standards . ( " " , p . 46 ) The most notable of these was the larger eight - foot refit - " Enterprise " studio model , the build of which been reverted to Magicam from Price , whose partially completed model was likewise scrapped . Magicam worked in close cooperation with Astra Image Corporation , the visual effects shop of RA & A . Upon completion of the bulk of the construction work on the models , a number of model builders legally moved over , as did the models , as model handlers to the respective effects houses , firstly Astra and subsequently Entertainment Effects Group ( EEG ) , the company that took over the VFX work from RA & A in . They also continued with detail work on the the models , mostly additional painting and applying further refined lighting and redesigned elements , usually requested by Douglas Trumbull , EEG ' s visual effects supervisor . The company was in existence from 13 February 1974 until 1982 , when the shop was closed down and Paramount began using Industrial Light & Magic for the pre - production of , though , as of 2010 , the essentially empty shell company was still listed as one of the subsidiaries of current holding company Viacom . Prior their involvement with " Star Trek " , Magicam worked on the effects for the television shows " The Space - Watch Murders " and " The UFO Incident " ( both 1975 ) . The only credits of the company after " The Motion Picture " were Carl Sagan ' s " Cosmos " ( 1980 , and that earned the company three Emmy Awards ) and the " The Greatest American Hero " ( 1981 ) television shows . Upon closure of the company , several employees moved over to Apogee , Inc . , that was also one of companies that worked on the visual effects of " The Motion Picture " . Staff . Model Shop Supervisor Jim Dow has always been proud of his team of model makers , impressed by their abilities to perform under pressure , especially when the " Phase II " models were discarded and they had to do the work all over again . He has expressed his appreciation on several occasions in print publications . When Dow submitted his piece he wrote about his company ' s involvement with the " Motion Picture " to the magazine " American Cinematographer " , he made the rather unusual gesture by taking it up a notch , when he took out an advertisement in the same magazine at his own expanse to thank his team for all their efforts . Magicam model makers employed at the time of " The Motion Picture " were :