DREAM QUEST HIRING ARTISTS, TECHNICIANS.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Are you a computer whiz with a hankering for Hollywood? Now may be your chance: special effects house Dream Quest Images is looking for you.

The Oscar-winning motion picture effects company has been on a hiring blitz in recent months, swelling its legions from about 80 employees in April to the current 250. What's more, the company expects to hire an additional 70 people through the end of the year, said Abdi Sami, executive vice president of Dream Quest.

The company is looking mainly for computer graphics artists and some personnel for Dream Quest's model shop, he said.

``This has to do with our expansion,'' Sami said. ``Our company was purchased by the Walt Disney Co. last year and we have a large number of projects that are coming our way.''

Dream Quest is expanding its Simi Valley facilities, moving some of its operations into the 45,000-square-foot building next to its 50,000-square-foot facility on Park Center Drive, Sami said. He expects the company to move into the new building in four to six months.

Dream Quest - which won special effects Academy Awards for ``The Abyss'' and ``Total Recall'' as well as a nomination for the Jim Carrey hit ``The Mask'' - was purchased by the Walt Disney Co. in April for an undisclosed sum.

At the time, Disney announced its expansion plans for Dream Quest and spoke about possibly relocating the company to the San Fernando Valley. No decision has been made, Abdi said. But the projects are coming, and the company needs personnel - now.

``We foresee we'll be continuously busy because of other projects coming up,'' he said.

City officials hope the expansion means that Dream Quest will stay in Simi Valley. The city has been working closely with the company to make the expansion go smoothly, Assistant City Manager Don Penman said.

This includes expediting building permits, helping obtain Fire Department approvals, and taking other steps to ensure a quick turnaround in the process, he said.

``We want them to stay here a long time and we'd love to see them continue to grow here,'' Penman said.

Dream Quest is looking for character animators, 3-D artists, 2-D compositors, software programmers, a senior systems administrator, data management technician and a technical assistant.

Pictures currently in production are ``Mighty Joe Young,'' a remake of the 1940s classic about a giant ape; a remake of the ``The Absent-Minded Professor,'' this time starring Robin Williams; ``Con Air,'' starring Nicholas Cage and John Malkovich; ``George of the Jungle,'' a live action version of the old cartoon series; ``Kundun,'' a film about the exiled Dalai Lama of Tibet directed by Martin Scorsese; ``Jungle 2 Jungle,'' starring Tim Allen; and ``Deep Rising.''

``Right now we're working on six feature films, and we'll have more as we move into 1997,'' Sami said.

For information about available positions, call Dream Quest Images's human resources department at [phone].