Eric Leiser

Eric Leiser is an award-winning filmmaker, animator, puppeteer, writer, holographer and multi-media artist working in the New York and London area. A graduate from CalArt's Experimental Animation program [2005], he creates animated and live action feature films and shorts as well as works integrating animation, puppetry, holography, live performance and installation. Leiser is interested in how animation transforms perception when it is combined with live action space, creating a fantastical, spiritual, or surrealistic quality. His animated and live action films have been shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Istanbul Modern Museum of Art, The Ruben H. Fleet Space Museum, Anthology Film Archives, EXiS Experimental Festival and the Cannes Film Market (among others). He has made 19 short films, eight of which appear in the Vanguard release Eclectic Shorts by Eric Leiser, and two features: Faustbook, released by Vanguard Cinema, and Imagination, released theatrically in the U.S. in 2007 and on DVD in 2008 by Vanguard. Imagination has also been featured at MoMA Store and the British Film Institute. It was mentored under surrealist master artist and filmmaker Jan Svankmajer, who oversaw the animation while Eric lived in Prague in 2005 and won the Kodak Filmmaker Award, as well as the Jules Engel Fellowship Award. The film screened in 15 cities internationally and in festivals worldwide. Todd Brown from Twitch, in his review, proclaimed Eric a "Master Animator". Eric is the founding member of Albino Fawn Productions, which was featured in the May 2008 issue of Animation Magazine. Eric's fine art and holographic paintings have exhibited at Fringe Exhibitions in Los Angeles, California; Goldsmiths, University of London; School of the Arts Institute of Chicago and the Ruben H. Fleet Space Center in San Diego, California. Group shows include Live With Animals in New York City, Mandrake in Culver City, Melt Gallery Los Angeles and Kastrupgard Gallery in Copenhagen. Eric's latest live action and stop motion feature is Glitch in the Grid.